AES plans 4GW offshore wind power project in central Vietnam

American energy company AES Corporation, which owns the Mong Duong coal-fired power plant in Quang Ninh, is considering developing a $13 billion offshore wind farm in Binh Thuan province.

The corporation has submitted a letter of intent for the 4GW project to the Vietnamese mission attending an annual Vietnam-U.S. energy security dialogue in Washington D.C. earlier this week.

This is the latest among a spate of recent initiatives that underline the massive potential of Vietnam’s renewable energy sector.

Earlier this week, France-based HDF Energy entered Vietnam’s fast-expanding renewables market, striking a partnership pact with Saigon Asset Management Corp (SAM).

Under the agreement, the duo will join hands to develop a chain of hydrogen and renewable energy projects in Vietnam, which has committed to achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Also this week, NovaWind, the wind power division of Russian energy company Rosatom, signed a cooperation agreement with Vietnamese firm An Xuan Energy to develop a 128MW wind farm in Son La Province, northern Vietnam.

Since its 2017 inception, NovaWind has built up a portfolio of about 1.7GW in operational and under-development capacity in Russia, according to its website. The project in Vietnam is set to be NovaWind’s first wind farm outside Russia.

Meanwhile, the Green Investment Group portfolio company, Corio Generation, signed in June a joint development agreement with Fecon, a leading Vietnamese construction and infrastructure corporation, for a 500-megawatt offshore wind farm in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

To date, Vietnam has about 4 GW of wind capacity installed and expects to have 11.7 GW by 2030 and 66 GW by 2045, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

AES and Vietnam's PV Gas in mid May received an investment registration certificate for their $1.4 bln LNG terminal project, also in the south-central province of Binh Thuan. The terminal will receive, process and supply LNG reprocessed as fuel for Son My 1 and Son My 2 power plants.