“No real offshore wind projects are likely to be built in Vietnam until the end of 2024-2028 period,” says the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
In its Global Wind Report 2024, the council notes that “a route-to-market strategy for offshore wind development is still to materialize.”
It points out that in 2023, new onshore wind energy installations in the country reached 823 MW, raising the total figure to 3,924 MW. Meanwhile, the figure for offshore wind power was zero.
Reviewing onshore and intertidal wind power development in Vietnam, the GWEC says: “The government needs to issue new policies and legal frameworks before any new onshore and intertidal wind projects can be constructed.
“New wind projects must also enter into a power purchase agreement (PPA) negotiation process with state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) to determine the price,” the GWEC says, adding that the process will be a prolonged one until the Ministry of Industry and Trade issued a new auction mechanism in the coming years.
Petrovietnam, Equinor discuss offshore wind power
In related news, state-owned oil and gas major Petrovietnam said Friday that it has discussed further cooperation on offshore wind power generation with Norway’s Equinor.
Jacques-Etienne Michel, managing director and country representative of Equinor Vietnam, said offshore wind power was one of the state-owned firm’s strengths. It has conducted many studies on marine spatial planning and wind power in several parts of the world.
Equinor will try to help Petrovietnam with offshore wind power developments in Vietnam, he said.
Petrovietnam general director Le Ngoc Son said Equinor was a crucial partner with whom the Vietnameses firm looks to boost cooperation and share experiences on new-energy projects.
However, offshore wind power was a new sector in Vietnam and the required legal framework was still not ready, he added.