‘Win game in second half:’ Norway’s energy giant Equinor urged to rethink Vietnam exit

Vietnam’s Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hoang Long has expressed hope that Norway’s state-owned energy firm Equinor will reverse its decision to leave the country.

He said Friday that the Vietnamese government was strongly encouraging offshore wind development, creating growth opportunities.

Equinor spokesperson Magnus Frantzen Eidsvold had told Reuters late August that the company had decided to discontinue its business development in Vietnam and close its Hanoi office. This decision came more than two years after Equinor had opened a representative office in the capital.

Jacques Etienne Michel, country managing director of Equinor Vietnam, told The Investor later that the decision was driven by an “early-stage project portfolio optimization” process because the industry was “facing significant headwinds.”

At the launch of a report titled "Offshore wind supply chain for fast-track scenario in Vietnam" by the Norwegian Embassy in Hanoi, Deputy Minister Long called on Equinor to “return to the (football) pitch to play the second half and win.”

The Vietnamese government has asked the industry ministry to facilitate state-owned Petrovietnam to conduct surveys for offshore wind development as part of a pilot scheme before allowing other players to join the field.

Long said Petrovietnam may conduct an offshore wind power development project in the southern region using its existing facilities in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province.

For this pilot project, Vietnam needed assistance from international partners at all phases, from survey to design, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies, technology selection, and financial support.

He noted that his ministry has received wind industry participation proposals from nine corporations including Denmark’s CIP, the UK’s BP, Corio, Malaysia’s Petronas, and Japan’s Mitsui.

Long said further that the government expected to approve amendments to the National Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII) in mid-2025. Once this happened, the 6 GW offshore wind target set for 2030 will be distributed to investors, he added.