Petrovietnam lauds opportunities in offshore renewable energy

Offshore wind power presents big opportunities for Petrovietnam, said the state-owned oil and gas giant's chairman Hoang Quoc Vuong.

Renewable energy, especially offshore wind power, is the future of energy in Vietnam amid the country's transition to greener energy and depleting fossil fuel, Vuong noted at a meeting Monday with the group's subsidiaries PTSC, Vietsovpetro and PETROCONs .

The draft power development plan VIII (PDP VIII) features 7 gigawatts of offshore wind power in 2030, or 4.8% of the total power capacity, and then 66.5 GW in 2045

Vuong lauded Petrovietnam and its subsidiaries as capable of deploying offshore wind power projects with their experience, strong workforce, and resources.

For instance, Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC) and Vietnam-Russia joint venture Vietsovpetro have been providing services for offshore wind power projects of domestic and foreign contractors, he noted

The company chairman also asked PTSC, Vietsovpetro, and Petrovietnam Construction JSC (Petrocons) to study and establish a group for developing a supply chain in renewable energy.

In late September, Corio Generation, an offshore wind energy branch of Macquarie's Green Investment Group, met with Petrovietnam chairman Vuong as the Australian company wanted to make larger inroads into Vietnam via cooperation with the Vietnamese group.

One day before the business meeting in Hai Phong, Corio signed a joint development agreement with FECON, a leading Vietnamese construction and infrastructure corporation, for a proposed 500 MW offshore wind farm in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province in the south.

Norway’s largest energy group Equinor is also keen on cooperating with Petrovietnam in developing offshore wind and clean energy projects in the renewables-thirsty country.

Anita Holgersen, Equinor country representative for Vietnam, told Petrovietnam general director Le Manh Hung at a meeting in Hanoi in mid August that the two sides could soon co-work out specific steps in developing offshore wind farms, and producing hydrogen, ammonia, as well as capturing and storing carbon.

Hung proposed Equinor work with Petrovietnam subsidiaries and affiliates like PTSC and Vietsovpetro on such projects in Vietnam and elsewhere.

Vietnam boasts a strong potential of offshore wind power with 31,808 square kilometers and 162,200 megawatts, the Danish Energy Agency reported to Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade in 2020. It includes 13,000 MW in the northern region, 5,000 MW in the north-central region, 118,000 MW in the south-central region, and 26,200 MW in the southern region.