Petrovietnam subsidiary to build offshore wind farm foundations for Orsted

Petrovietnam Technical Services Corp (PTSC) on Friday 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.

The technical arm of national oil & gas group Petrovietnam will manufacture 33 suction bucket foundations for turbine operation following an eco-friendly design developed by the Danish energy giant.

It is the first time such advanced production technology has been deployed in the Asia-Pacific region, said Orsted project development director Jonas Solhøj.

The move is part of PTSC's transition to mass production, a major development from single production, unlike traditional oil-gas activities, said PTSC CEO Le Manh Cuong. The contract will demonstrate PTSC and Vietnam’s capabilities in the global offshore wind power sector, he added. The project is set to use 70,000 tons of steel and employ thousands of people.

The products will be installed at the Great Changuha 2b & 4 offshore wind power (CHW2204) projects in Taiwan. Orsted secured a corporate power purchase agreement (CPPA) for the 920-MW project with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited (TSMC) in July 2020.

Located 35-60 kilometers off the Changhua coast, the project is scheduled to conduct onshore construction later this year, fabrication of components in 2023-2024, and completion of offshore construction by the end of 2025.

In November 2022, Petrovietnam’s mechanical and construction company PTSC M&C conducted the first cut of steel for the offshore substations Hai Long 2 and Hai Long 3 at the 1,044-megawatt Hai Long Offshore Wind Project in the Taiwan Strait.

In October 2021, the project announced a consortium of Vietnam's PTSC M&C and Danish company Semco Maritime had been selected as the suppliers for the two offshore substations.

Petrovietnam is currently not allowed to invest in offshore wind power projects under a resolution of Politburo, the Communist Party's premier decision-making body. But the state-owned oil and gas group is strongly capable of such a business, said its vice chairman Pham Tien Dung at a workshop in March to promote Vietnam’s offshore wind power development.

Resolution 41 dated July 2015 specifies development orientations for Vietnam's oil and gas industry until 2025, with a vision until 2030.

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