EVNGENCO 3, a subsidiary of state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN), and Australian offshore wind developer Corio Generation on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding on offshore wind power development in Vietnam.
The MoU was signed at the Australia-Vietnam business forum in Melbourne on the sidelines of Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh’s ongoing Australia visit.
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.
Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan had acknowledged in January that there was a lack of regulations on organizations and individuals using non-budget funds to survey maritime areas.
He also mentioned other bottlenecks in the implementation of offshore wind power projects including the assigning of maritime areas to foreign investors, bidding and investor selection, and potential conflicts between marine activities and national security concerns.
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.