Ministry backs German firm’s $4.6 bln offshore wind power project in central Vietnam

Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade has expressed support to a $4.6 billion offshore wind power project in the central province of Binh Dinh, proposed by Germany-based wind energy developer PNE AG.

As the ministry is leading a pilot scheme to develop offshore wind power with the exclusive participation of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for security reasons before allowing domestic private or foreign players to join, PNE AG and provincial authorities should consider partnering with an SOE to carry out the project.

Such a partnership would ensure the project’s effectiveness and smooth implementation, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien said in reply to a request by the local government on Friday to clear hurdles for the colossal project.

According to PNE AG’s proposal, the 2,000 MW Hon Trau offshore wind power project is to be implemented in three phases, with the first phase seeing 750 MW operational by 2030.

In April, the local government asked for prime ministerial in-principle approval and mechanisms for piloting the project. The Government Office then forwarded the proposal to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

At a Friday working session between Binh Dinh’s authorities and a ministry delegation headed by Dien, Vice Chairman Nguyen Tu Cong Hoang asked the ministry to supplement the pilot scheme to make the project feasible.

Ho Quoc Dung, Party chief of the province, stressed the project would give a boost to the local economy. PNE AG had been surveying wind conditions with “very positive” results, he said, urging the trade ministry to facilitate its next steps.

Binh Dinh now has 20 operational power plants with a combined capacity of 718.9 MW. Of them, 11 hydropower plants have a total capacity of 187.9 MW, four wind farms with 107.4 MW, five solar farms with 529.5 MW. In addition, rooftop solar installations have a combined capacity of 223 MWp.