Australia’s Corio Generation plans offshore wind energy projects in Vietnam

Corio Generation, an offshore wind energy branch of Australia’s Macquarie's Green Investment Group, plans to make infrastructure investments in Vietnam, said its Asia-Pacific (APAC) head Yi-Hua Lu.

The executive revealed the plans in a Friday meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh during the latter’s Australia visit. He also mentioned challenges in project implementation and made proposals on deploying offshore wind power projects.

Prime Minister Chinh asked Corio Generation to build detailed project proposals and submit them to relevant Vietnamese authorities. He also asked Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha to directly process Corio Generation’s proposals.

Urging Corio Generation to cooperate with relevant Vietnamese partners, Chinh said a key factor was that wind power prices should benefit all sides.

He also suggested that the Australian firm expand its partner list in Vietnam, including state-owned Petrovietnam and Vietnam Electricity (EVN).

Chinh said Vietnam was not only looking for Corio Generation to make investments but also carry out technology transfers.

The Vietnamese government, ministries, and relevant authorities are committed to facilitating investors and ensuring their legitimate rights and benefits towards win-win outcomes and sharing of burdens, Chinh affirmed.

Under the National Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII) approved last May, Vietnam aims to generate at least 6,000 MW of offshore wind power by 2030, depending on technology developments, electricity prices and transmission costs.

However, no project has been approved or assigned to an investor so far despite strong interest shown by several foreign firms.

Corio Generation is studying the development of three offshore wind power projects in Vietnam with a total capacity of 4.5 GW. These are located in the central province of Binh Thuan, the northern city of Hai Phong, and the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau.

On Tuesday, at the Australia-Vietnam business forum in Melbourne, EVNGENCO 3, a subsidiary of EVN, and Corio Generation signed a memorandum of understanding on offshore wind power development in Vietnam.