Vietnam: Domestic firms make real headway on wind farms

Vietnam: Domestic firms make real headway on wind farms

Although numerous foreign and domestic enterprises expressed their interest
in investing in wind farms in Vietnam, so far only domestic firms started
actually implementing such projects.

According to information published on the Ministry of Industry and Trade
(MoIT), Phu Lac Wind Power Plant-Phase I in the south-central province of
Binh Thuan will come into commercial operation and join the national grid on
November 25.

In its first phase the project installed twelve turbines with a combined
capacity of 24 megawatts. It is scheduled to supply around 200,000 kWh of
electricity a day to the national grid.

The construction of the 400-hectare plant was started in July 2015 with the
total investment capital of VND1.1 trillion ($49.12 million) put forward by
Thuan Binh Wind Power JSC.

The facility is the third operational wind power plant in Binh Thuan, after
the 30MW Tuy Phong wind power plant invested by Vietnam Renewable Energy JSC
and the 6MW wind power project invested by PetroVietnam Power Renewable
Energy Limited Company on Phu Quy Island.

Earlier on January 17, another domestic firm, Cong Ly
Construction-Trade-Tourism Co., Ltd., started the full operation of Bac Lieu
wind farm. The 99MW farm, which was constructed on an area of 1,300
hectares, has the total investment capital of VND5.2 trillion ($233
million).

A company representative said that Cong Ly planned to implement the next
phase soon, building 71 additional wind turbines of 2MW each for VND8.85
trillion ($397 million). The construction is scheduled to be carried out
over 36 months and operation is going to start in 2018.

Along with positive moves from domestic firms, all previously licensed wind
farms invested by foreign investors are long delayed in construction.

In Ninh Thuan alone, there are currently 12 wind farm projects in the
province's master plan, however, all of them are behind schedule. These
projects include Mui Dinh, as well as the wind farms of Enfinity, South
Korean LandVille Energy, and Malaysian wind power company Timur.

In April 2016, Ninh Thuan denied the plan of Argentinean wind farm company
IMPSA to invest in a project in Ninh Phuoc and Thuan Nam districts. The
reason was that IMPSA had not finished the administrative procedures to
start investment within six months, as promised back in 2011 when the Ninh
Thuan People's Committee agreed to the project in principle.

Earlier, IMPSA proposed constructing a wind farm and a plant producing wind
turbine parts, with the total investment value between $2 and $3 billion. At
the end of 2011, IMPSA gained approval to raise the project area to 1,000
hectares from the initial 600. Since then, the company made no more moves.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.vir.com.vn/domestic-firms-make-real-headway-on-wind-farms.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com