Reasons why solar power giants lose nearly a trillion dong.

The solar power business, part of the Trung Nam Group ecosystem, has just recorded a loss of nearly 1,000 billion VND in 2025, marking a reversal after a year of unexpectedly large profits.

According to information recently released by the Hanoi Stock Exchange, Trung Nam Thuan Nam Solar Power Company Limited reported a loss of over 969 billion VND in 2025. This is a remarkable reversal, as in 2024, the company recorded a net profit of approximately 138 billion VND after a period of heavy losses.

The new losses increased Trung Nam Thuan Nam's cumulative losses by the end of 2025 to over 1,818 billion VND. Consequently, equity decreased sharply, from over 1,562 billion VND to only about 593 billion VND.

Trung Nam - Thuan Nam solar power project. Photo: Thach Thao

Notably, this project is among 173 renewable energy projects facing difficulties with feed-in tariff (FiT), resulting in a significant amount of electricity payments being "suspended".

The Trung Nam Thuan Nam solar power plant is located within the complex of a 500 kV substation and 220/500 kV transmission line project combined with a solar power plant. The project, implemented by Trung Nam Group with a total investment of VND 12,000 billion, includes a 450 MW solar power plant combined with a substation and over 17 km of double-circuit 500 kV transmission lines, and four 220 kV lines.

The 450MW solar power project, which received commercial operation (COD) certification from EVN on October 1, 2020, is currently applying two different electricity prices according to Decision 13/2020/QD-TTg.

Of that, the 277.88MW capacity is eligible for a FIT price of 9.35 US cents/kWh because it met the COD conditions before January 1, 2021, and falls within the cumulative 2,000MW solar power limit of Ninh Thuan province.

The remaining 172.12MW of capacity is subject to the transitional pricing scheme. From May 2023 to the present, only a temporary price equal to 50% of the transitional electricity price framework issued by the Ministry of Industry and Trade has been applied, equivalent to approximately 2.34 US cents/kWh (previously, no electricity payments were made).

On average across the entire project, the current electricity selling price is only about 7.56 US cents/kWh, even if the portion of the capacity to be carried over is negotiated at the ceiling price set by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This price is considered to significantly impact the project's financial efficiency compared to the initial investment plan.

The investor previously stated that the aforementioned situation made it impossible for them to secure the necessary funding for the operation and maintenance of the Thuan Nam 500 kV transmission system.

The renewable energy "empire" is growing at a breakneck pace.

Trung Nam Thuan Nam is the investor of a 450 MW solar power plant project combined with a substation and 220/500kV transmission lines in Ninh Thuan. This was once one of the largest solar power projects in Vietnam.

The parent company, Trung Nam Group, was established in 2004 and operates in various sectors including energy, infrastructure construction, real estate, and electronics industry.

Starting as an infrastructure construction company, Trung Nam Construction Investment Joint Stock Company (Trung Nam Group) expanded significantly into real estate and hydropower before focusing its efforts on renewable energy in the last decade. The group once emerged as one of the largest private investors in the wind and solar power industry in Vietnam.

A series of large-scale projects by the enterprise have been implemented in many localities, such as the Trung Nam Thuan Nam solar power plant, the Ea Nam wind power plant, the Trung Nam Tra Vinh wind power plant, and energy projects in Ninh Thuan and Dak Lak .

According to the company's website, as of October 2021, Trung Nam Group had contributed approximately 1.63 GW of electricity to the national grid, at which time leading the private sector in the renewable energy field.

Rapid expansion has led to a significant increase in Trung Nam's asset size. By the end of 2022, the group's total assets reached approximately 96,000 billion VND, equivalent to several billion USD.

According to the introduction, Trung Nam Group is the renewable energy investor with the largest number of projects and capacity in Vietnam. Photo: TN

However, in order to develop a series of large-scale power projects in a short period of time, Trung Nam also had to rely heavily on bank loans and corporate bonds.

According to a report published on the HNX, by mid-2024, Trung Nam Group's total liabilities remained at over 63,500 billion VND, although this was a decrease compared to over 69,000 billion VND at the end of 2023.

The group's outstanding bond debt stands at over VND 20,400 billion, lower than the previous figure of over VND 25,700 billion, but still placing it among the companies with the largest outstanding bond debt in the market.

Analysts believe that renewable energy businesses are facing numerous challenges related to high investment costs, reliance on loans, high interest rates in the past, along with changes in electricity pricing mechanisms and the ability to mobilize capacity from the national power grid.

For Trung Nam Group, legal troubles related to the preferential electricity pricing mechanism are considered a factor that puts additional pressure on the company's reputation, finances, and capital mobilization.

Trung Nam Solar Power reports huge profits after shock : The solar power division of Trung Nam Group, chaired by Mr. Nguyen Tam Thinh, unexpectedly reported huge profits after a year of record losses and controversy related to improper preferential treatment.

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/ly-do-dai-gia-dien-mat-troi-lo-gan-nghin-ty-2513742.html