Vietnam urged to prioritize building clear frameworks for offshore wind power

To encourage investments in green transition, the Vietnamese government should build a clear framework for offshore wind energy, an unnamed energy firm said at the Vietnam Business Forum on the sidelines of the COP28 in Dubai, the UAE.

This would include completing the national Marine Spatial Plan and revising the government’s Decree 11/2021 on designation of specific maritime zones for effective utilization of marine resources by organizations and individuals, said event organizer Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

It suggested the establishment of an inter-ministerial committee dedicated to streamlining procedures for offshore wind projects.

Speaking at the event held on the sidelines of the COP28 summit and co-hosted by Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh highlighted the country’s progress towards its net zero emissions target.

He said Vietnam’s participation in the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) and its implementation of the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII) would entail investments of $119.8 billion and $511 billion by 2030 and 2050, respectively.

The GWEC said that it was collaborating with the ministries of Industry and Trade, Planning and Investment and Natural Resources and Environment in enabling wind energy transition.

In its “Global Offshore Wind Report 2023,” the GWEC clarified no “real” offshore wind project has been built in Vietnam as all projects are nearshore (intertidal) ones. “Real” offshore wind projects are expected to be built from 2028, the council added.

Some businesses have expressed their interests in offshore wind power projects in Vietnam. In August 2022, Anita Holgersen, Equinor country representative for Vietnam, and Petrovietnam general director Le Manh Hung had a meeting in Hanoi, with discussions focusing on developing offshore wind farms, producing hydrogen and ammonia, and capturing and storing carbon.

In July, Vietsovpetro, a Vietnam-Russia joint venture in the oil and gas sector, said it plans to invest in several offshore wind power projects totaling 2,000 MW in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh.

However, In June, Denmark’s Orsted "paused market development activities in Vietnam," Per Mejnert Kristensen, its senior vice president and Asia-Pacific president, said at the wind power giant’s Capital Market Day event.