The Kê Gà offshore wind power project in the central province of Bình Thuận. With a massive estimated potential of 160 gigawatts of offshore wind power, Việt Nam has favourable conditions to create an offshore wind industry. — Photo nangluongsachvietnam.vn

HÀ NỘI — Around 10 gigawatts of offshore wind power could be in operation in Việt Nam by 2030, according to studies carried out by the Danish Energy Agency and the World Bank.

The studies on the development of a new offshore wind sector by the Vietnamese Government were presented during a two-day international conference which wrapped up on Tuesday just ahead of the release of the new Power Development Plan 8.

With estimated potential of 160 gigawatts of offshore wind power within a distance of 5km to 100km from shore, Việt Nam has favourable conditions to create an offshore wind industry. The long coastline, ample wind resources and political will are key parameters to creating a green and forward-looking industry that can supply huge amounts of green electricity at attractive prices while creating new jobs and attracting investments.

At the conference, the consultants presented their studies on aspects including the assessment of potential and grid transmission capacity, the current local supply chain capacity, opportunities and challenges in offshore development, policy and management experience from countries with advanced offshore industry as well as recommendations for a roadmap to offshore wind power development.

The studies will be finalised taking into consideration the opinions and suggestions from the conference participants and will be submitted to the government of Việt Nam in the near future. The outcome of the conference will be an important input for shaping the policy targets in the Vietnamese national Power Development Plan 8, which is the most important policy guiding Việt Nam’s development in the energy sector in the next 10 years.

“The Government of Việt Nam is always committed to the development of a sustainable energy sector and the timing is critical to the preparations of the national Power Development Plan 8 by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoIT). We, therefore, highly appreciate advice and recommendations from Denmark and the World Bank, our long term partners who possess many years of experience and knowledge in renewable energy,” said Hoàng Tiến Dũng, Director General of MoIT’s Electricity and Renewable Energy Agency.

The Danish Energy Agency and the World Bank Group presented key recommendations include clear, long-term and progressive capacity deployment targets, a sound legal framework and a financeable Power Purchase Agreement in line with international practices, mandate a government agency to act as a single point of contact to streamline the permitting and consent processes for offshore wind projects, thus ensuring timely delivery of projects and award of large-scale demonstration projects to be commissioned in phases in order to kick-start the sector.

“As Việt Nam is keen on moving towards a green transition of its energy sector, offshore wind power will definitely be one of the most cost-effective options as proven in many countries, including Denmark. A developed offshore wind industry will not only provide a new source of clean energy and contribute to climate change mitigation but also create a significant number of new jobs for local people while creating a new maritime economy and attracting significant new investments.

The final decision of course fully rests with the Government of Việt Nam, but Denmark, being a long-term and close partner with Việt Nam in the energy sector, is always willing to share knowledge, experience and best practices from our 30-year offshore wind development, as we did at this conference,” said Kim Højlund Christensen, Ambassador of Denmark in Việt Nam.

Director at the Danish Energy Agency, Anton Beck, said: “Offshore wind turbines represent the most potent renewable energy technology with just one 8-megawatt turbine being able to power annual electricity consumption corresponding to more than 43,000 Vietnamese households. We are happy to be able to share our vast Danish experience with offshore wind power with our close Vietnamese partners. Pressing ‘play’ has been underway for some time, and our Vietnamese partners are both eager to get going and determined to get it right."

“The World Bank studies show important economic benefits of deploying offshore wind at the scale of up to 10 gigawatts by 2030, which can render between 190,000-700,000 full-time years of employment. It will be important to take these considerations on board during the development of the National Power Development Plan 8,” said Rahul Kitchlu, Programme Leader for Infrastructure and Energy Sector Co-ordinator, World Bank.

The workshop also addressed a wide range of concerns regarding offshore wind development, ranging from the perspective of the developers, the supply chain as well as investor interests. The dialogue provided a holistic input to the future of Việt Nam’s offshore wind development.

The conference took place both off-line in Hà Nội and online through a video link between the capital city, Copenhagen and other locations around the world. It attracted broad participation of Vietnamese decision-makers and sector managers both at the central and provincial levels, international and local professionals from the offshore wind industry and supply chain, and the private sector. — VNS

Box:

The Ministry of Industry and Trade on Tuesday promulgated a document guiding the tariff for rooftop solar power at VNĐ1,943 (8.38 US cents) per kWh which is higher than solar power projects installed on the ground at VNĐ1,644 (7.09 US cents).

The ministry also affirmed that there will have no preferential purchase price applied for solar power projects not installed on the roof.

According to the ministry, rooftop solar power is a clean, renewable power source that is dispersed, small-scale, consumed on the spot, reducing the loss of transmission and taking advantage of existing distribution and utilisation of grid infrastructure. The power has main generation time during the day that helps reduce the peak load and make use of roofs in residential areas.

It is necessary to encourage all economic sectors such as households and enterprises to invest in supplying electricity for self-use and selling the residual energy to Việt Nam Electricity (EVN).

The MoIT also required EVN to be responsible for ensuring rooftop solar power systems are connected in accordance with regulations, not overloading the existing low, medium and high voltage grid systems (especially the 110kV grid system).

According to the EVN’s report, as of early September 2020, the whole country had a total of nearly 50,000 rooftop solar power systems with a total capacity of nearly 1,200 MWp installed and put into operation. The potential for rooftop solar power development in the country is assessed to be very high. — VNS