State-owned oil and gas group Petrovietnam wants authorities to grant a sea survey license to its technical arm PTSC this month for an offshore wind power project that will export electricity to Singapore.
Petrovietnam CEO Le Manh Hung made the request at a Friday meeting with Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Le Minh Ngan.
In February, PTSC and Sembcorp Utilities, under Singaporen conglomerate Sembcorp Industries, signed an agreement on supplying electricity directly to Singapore via undersea cable from a 2.3-GW offshore wind power project.
PTSC proposed a sea survey of an area of 99,322 hectares, offshore the southern province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau. In particular, it suggested that the sea survey license be granted before the scheduled August 27-29 Vietnam visit of Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong as part of events commemorating 50 years of Vietnam-Singapore partnership.
Supporting the request, Deputy Minister Le Minh Ngan asked relevant agencies to cooperate with other ministries and agencies to draft and submit a report to the Prime Minister.
An offshore wind power project normally takes at least five-seven years to reach commercial operation. If the authorities provide suitable legal support and permit an early survey and use of waters for electricity exports, PTSC is looking at commercial operation starting in 2030, said PTSC CEO Le Manh Cuong.
Due to problems in arranging capital for traditional electricity projects, prices of traditional power will keep rising. The demand for green energy will grow rapidly and not just businesses, countries like Singapore are willing to pay fairly for such energy, Cuong added in an interview with the government portal in February.
PTSC is a top-tier contractor for oil-gas and offshore projects in Vietnam. In May, it signed a contract to build offshore wind farm foundations for Orsted, becoming the first Vietnamese business to receive a mass order for offshore wind power equipment.