Telecom giant Viettel proposes $317 mln wind power project in central Vietnam

Military-run telecom heavyweight Viettel is proposing a 198 MW wind power project in the central province of Quang Tri, with four separate plants and a total cost of $317 million.

Viettel Construction Joint Stock Corporation, a subsidiary of Viettel, proposed the Le Thuy 4 power complex project in a document sent to the Quang Tri People's Committee, the provincial Department of Industry and Trade, and the Department of Finance.

According to the company, the project has been included in the National Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII) and aligns with the planning of the old Quang Binh province for the period 2021-2030, with a vision to 2050.

Quang Binh and Quang Tri were recently merged to form the new Quang Tri province, which borders Ha Tinh province, Hue city, Laos, and the East Sea.

Viettel Construction argued that 30 MW power projects in the planning are no longer suitable in the current period because investments of such a scale would be inefficient and difficult to fully utilize technical infrastructure, while the costs of technology, operation and management are high.

Therefore, the company proposed to expand the scale of the Le Thuy 4 wind power project from 30 MW to 198 MW.

The project is divided into four separate wind power plants: the Le Thuy 4-1 (49.5 MW), the Le Thuy 4-2 (49.5 MW), the Le Thuy 4-3 (49.5 MW), and the Le Thuy 4-4 (49.5 MW).

The total investment after expansion is expected to be $317 million. The project implementation and completion times are set within the period 2026-2028.

The project, located in the area between Hac Hai Lagoon and Kien Giang riverbank, will cover about 46 hectares in the communes of Le Thuy, Cam Hong, Le Ninh, Truong Phu, Ninh Chau, and Truong Ninh.

According to Viettel Construction's assessment, the project will help Quang Tri enhance regional connectivity, create breakthroughs, maximize utility of social resources, and effectively exploit natural resources.

Clean electricity output of about 480 million kWh/year - enough to supply about 160,000 households - will contribute to ensuring energy security and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

More wind power projects in Quang Tri to come

The Department of Industry and Trade recently announced the preliminary results of assessing the capacity and experience of investors registering to implement the Quang Tri Win 3 wind power project.

Accordingly, a consortium of Win Quang Tri Renewable Energy Investment Joint Stock Company and Win Power Holding Pte., Ltd. is the investor that meets the requirements of capacity and experience to implement the project.

The 48 MW project has a total investment of nearly VND1,689 billion ($64.56 million) and will be implemented in two communes of the old Huong Hoa district.

Previously, Quang Tri called for investment in the VND1,809 billion ($69.15 million) Tan Thanh Long wind power plant project, located in the communes of Khe Sanh and Lao Bao. The project has a capacity of 48 MW and will be executed from 2025 to 2029.

Another, the VND6,500 billion, 200 MW Cam Lo wind power plant project, located in the communes of Con Tien and Hieu Giang, will be implemented from 2025 to 2028.

After the merger with Quang Binh, the new Quang Tri province owns a series of wind power projects like the B&T wind power farm complex, including two wind power farms BT1 and BT2.

The 252 MW complex project, with a total investment of more than VND8,113 billion ($310 million), started generating commercial electricity in October 2021. It is located in the old Quang Binh province.

The old Quang Tri province currently has 31 wind power projects with a total planned capacity of 1,177.2 MW. Of these, 20 projects (742.2 MW) have been completed and put into commercial operation.

Quang Tri is proposing government agencies add wind power projects to the adjusted Power Plan VIII, in order to realize the goal of turning this province into a wind power center of the central region.