Petrovietnam not allowed but strongly capable of offshore wind power: executive

Petrovietnam is currently not allowed to invest in offshore wind power projects under a Politburo resolution, but the state-owned oil and gas group is strongly capable of such a business, said its vice chairman Pham Tien Dung.

Resolution 41 dated July 2015, issued by the Politburo, the Communist Party's premier decision-making body, specifies development orientations for Vietnam's oil and gas industry until 2025, with a vision until 2030.

The executive made the statement at a workshop late last week on promoting Vietnam’s offshore wind power development. The Central Economic Commission and the Embassy of Denmark in Hanoi co-hosted the workshop, with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP), the lead investor in the La Gan Offshore Wind Project, as technical advisor of the event.

"Petrovietnam is capable of all offshore wind power activities, from the beginning to the ending phases. In seabed surveys, hydrogeological tasks, data analysis and research, Petrovietnam is the best in Vietnam, thanks to its experiences in working in the sea over the past 60 years," Dung said.

Dung added that Petrovietnam and its members are also capable of manufacturing equipment. In particular, Petrovietnam Technical Services Corp. (PTSC) has won a mega contract with Danish power giant Orsted to build equipment in Vietnam for a Taiwan-based offshore wind power project.

Last October, PetroVietnam chairman Hoang Quoc Vuong said offshore wind power presents big opportunities for Petrovietnam.

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 with the group's subsidiaries PTSC, Vietsovpetro and Petrocons.

The 3.5 GW La Gan project in the southcentral coastal province of Binh Thuan is one of the first large scale offshore wind farm projects in Vietnam. CIP and Binh Thuan authorities signed a memorandum of understanding to develop the project in July 2020.

“Denmark is looking forward to a clear and consistent regulatory framework, which is essential for the development of the offshore wind industry, starting with the approval of the National Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8) and exclusive offshore survey rights,” said Danish Ambassador Nicolai Prytz.

The Vietnamese government should award large-scale demonstration projects to be commissioned in phases, in order to kickstart the sector, recommended the Danish Energy Agency and the World Bank. The two agencies added that it is now the ripe time for the government to take action to meet the target of 7GW of offshore wind capacity installed by 2030.

“Now is the time to press forward and allow pilot projects to be instigated,” said co-CEO of Copenhagen Offshore Partners (COP) Henrik Scheinemann.