Central Vietnam manufacturing hub seeks okay for 6 wind power projects

Authorities of Ha Tinh, a new manufacturing hub in central Vietnam, are seeking government approval to include its six wind power projects in the country's upcoming Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII).

"The offshore and onshore wind projects are necessary as Ha Tinh's demand for power is surging, with many large-scaled manufacturing projects being deployed in the province," Vo Trong Hai, Chairman of Ha Tinh People's Commitee, told The Investor.

The proposal is sent to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which is compiling the power plan. The PDP VIII is designed to orient the future development of Vietnam's electricity industry.

The six projects have capacity in the range of 49.5-800 megawatts (MW). Of these, one on land and two at sea are planned for Ky Anh district, while the remaining three are to be located near the coast of Cam Xuyen district.

The central province of Ha Tinh received 52 investment projects in 2021, of which 51 are domestically invested with $632.2 million and one foreign-backed project capitalized at $2.5 billion.

Vingroup, Vietnam’s largest listed conglomerate by market cap, established VinES Battery Factory in Ha Tinh's Vung Ang Economic Zone in the closing days of 2021. The plant covers an eight-hectare area in phase one, with total investment capital of more than $173 million.

The zone is also home to the Taiwanese-backed Formosa steel making complex, the country's biggest in the field.

Vung Ang Economic Zone is one of eight key economic zones along Vietnam's coast, focusing on investment areas like steel, mechanical engineering, energy, deep-sea ports, and logistics.

Previously, Ha Tinh sought government approval for two wind power projects, totally capitalized at $914 million, added to the amended Power Development Plan VII. Mien Trung MK Solar Power JSC and Phuoc Trung Energy JSC are the investors of both projects.

Many provinces are seeking to have their renewable projects added to the PDP VIII. At a conference on the draft power plan, Deputy Prime Minister Le Van Thanh noted that the master plan put the country’s interest first to assure power security, making it impossible to approve all provincial proposals on their own generation capacity expansion.

"A sum of the proposals put their total appeals at almost 520,000 MW, about 3.5 times higher than the national estimate. The master plan cannot meet all the requirements of developers and localities with such a huge registration,” he said.

Vietnam's long-discussed draft PDP VIII has been amended many times with different capacity estimates. The plan aims at the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2045.

During his ongoing working visit to the U.S., Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said approval for PDP III has been delayed as Vietnam's commitments on net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 are considered.