Vietnam’s PTSC M&C first steel cut for major Taiwan wind offshore substations

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

“The first cut of steel for the offshore substations marks an important milestone for the Hai Long project, as it signals the start of the fabrication phase for our project,” Felipe Montero, project director of Hai Long, said in a release last Friday.

”The substations are an essential part of the Hai Long wind farm. Starting the fabrication as planned is important for the future success of Hai Long,” he noted.

In October 2021, the project announced a consortium of Vietnam's PTSC M&C and Danish company Semco Maritime selected as the supplier of the two offshore substations, and signed the contract with the joint venture in July this year. The scope of collaboration covers the detailed design, procurement, construction, and commissioning of the two substations and their underwater jacket foundations.

In Vung Tau which is about 2.5 hours’ drive from Ho Chi Minh City, the consortium and Hai Long held the ceremonial first cut of steel on last Wednesday.

Hai Long has to date procured more than 90% of the steel required for offshore substations and is now making progress in accordance with the construction schedule, the developer said. The offshore installation will be carried out in 2024-2025, followed by commissioning and grid connection in 2025-2026, according to the firm.

The project, consisting of Hai Long 2 and Hai Long 3 wind farms in the Taiwan Strait, is jointly built by Canada-based Northland Power Inc. and Yushan Energy, a partnership between Singapore-headquartered Enterprize Energy and Japan’s Mitsui & Co., Ltd.

Enterprize Energy is a low-carbon energy business that has operations in Britain and Vietnam, in addition to the Hai Long project. In Vietnam, it has completed the survey period in Thang Long area off Ke Ga Cape in the south-central province of Binh Thuan, and is waiting for government approval to develop the Thang Long Wind project to connect to the national electricity grid with a total capacity of 3.4 gigawatts and total investment of about $11.9 billion.

Its Thang Long plans for the area also include Thang Long Wind 2, a project Enterprize Energy wants to develop to produce and export green hydrogen from offshore wind with an installed capacity of 2 GW and a total investment of $5 billion.

This August, Binh Thuan’s administration sent a proposal to the government, the ministries of Industry and Trade, and Natural Resources and Environment to add Thang Long 2 to Vietnam’s draft National Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII).

PTSC M&C specializes in building oil platforms, and the deal is its first contractor project in renewables services, opening a new gate for the Vietnamese engineering and contracting firm to clean energy development from fossil fuels.

PTSC M&C signed a memorandum of understanding with Danish wind power giant Orsted this August to collaborate on offshore wind projects in Vietnam.