Vietnam invests little in Wind energy

HANOI – Vietnam holds huge growth potential for wind energy and has policy incentives available for this sector but only three wind power projects have been put into operation nationwide, according to a conference in Hanoi on November 29.

Speaking at the conference on wind energy held by the Danish Embassy, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong said that with a coastline of over 2,300 kilometers, the country is in a good position to develop the wind power sector.

The Government has taken a couple of policy steps to spur clean energy development, including Decision 37, and has set a target of increasing the wind power capacity to 6,000 MW by 2030, 2.1% of total power output.

With the support of the Danish Embassy and other foreign partners, the nation is drawing up a wind energy map.

Vuong noted the three existing wind farms have a combined capacity of just 150 MW. He explained investors are not interested in this field as wind power prices are still low.

Henrik Breum, special adviser the Danish Energy Agency’s Centre for Global Cooperation, told the conference that before the 1973 oil crisis, 99% of electricity in Denmark was sourced from fossil fuel-fired power stations.

But things changed a lot in the following 40 years as Denmark embraced green energy. In 2014, renewable energy accounted for 56% of total power generation in Denmark, the highest percentage in the world.

Wind energy requires big upfront investments, so the Danish government has adopted appropriate polices, set suitable electricity prices for a long term and give priority to the use of wind power in the national grid.   

Steve Sawyer, secretary general of the Global Wind Energy Council, said at the conference that wind power contributed around half of the world’s electricity production growth in 2015.

Wind power makes up 4% of the world’s electricity output and the percentage may climb to 8% by 2020, 18-20% by 2030 and around 30% by 2050 if countries concentrate on combating climate change, said Sawyer.

Charlotte Laursen, Danish Ambassador to Vietnam, said that according to Vietnam’s power industry development strategy adopted in 2011, the proportion of renewable energy in its total power output would reach 7% by 2020 and 10% by 2030 (excluding hydropower).

Wind power plays a pivotal role in this strategy, she said, because Vietnam has the biggest wind power potential in the region. Denmark is ready to help Vietnam develop this source of clean energy, she noted.

Source: Bao E.Vnexpress

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Vietnam: FDI into Solar Energy Increased Sharply

Vietnam is becoming attractive locations for investors producing solar panels from China, Taiwan to expand production in order to meet increasing demands of the world as well as make use of the advantages of tax for exports to the two largest markets which are the US and Europe.

Vina Solar has just signed a contract with GCL-SI – China’s leading solar panels manufacturer and Trina Solar Company to develop the project to produce solar energy panels with capacity of 600 MW and 1 GW at the factories in Vietnam. In particular, GCL-SI Company also announced an investment of 32 million USD together with Solar Vina in Vietnam.

According to President of GCL-SI, this investment is not only brings cost advantages but also help organizing the supply chain of the Company.

Also reported by GCL-SI Company, this is a notable move to strengthen competitiveness as well as to expand opportunities to join the US and EU markets as these two markets are having trade barriers, which are set for solar energy panels manufacturing in China and Taiwan.

Meanwhile, with an investment of 100 million USD, Trian Solar Company has recently completed construction the project producing solar energy panels with capacity of 800 MW/year in Bac Giang – the province with highest solar energy panels production scale in the country, with a total capacity of 5,200 MW/year. Moreover, Bac Giang is forming production and assembly chains of solar energy panels with 8 projects have been licensed, the total registered capital reached 635 million USD.

Under the agreement, Vina Solar will supply and assemble PV modules for Trina Solar. This is the largest project of Trina Solar in Vietnam. The project has a workshop area of 42,000 m2, with 14 modern production lines, the factory produce many kinds of single-crystal and polycrystalline batteries. The products are exported to all continents in the world.

According to the Chairman and CEO of Trina Solar, the factory in Vietnam is a result of global strategy, following the opening of the factories producing solar energy panels in Malaysia and Thailand. This cooperation will bring benefits for both parties, helping to bring solar energy panel production technology to Vietnam and create about 1,000 jobs.

In November 2016, JA Solar Corporation (China) has started construction of the 1 billion USD project to build a factory producing solar energy batteries at Quang Chau Industrial Park (Bac Giang). The project is divided into several stages, with the scale of 88 hectares of land.

According to forecasts, the demand for solar energy panels worldwide will increase after 2016, while the cost of installation and production will continue to decline. According to the report of International Renewable Energy Agency, that trend will contribute to replace fossil energy. This is the reason why many solar panels projects are warming up in Vietnam, after several major projects are bankrupt previously.

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New Solar Power Plant Project in Binh Dinh

Solar energy is encouraged to invest by Vietnam Government. Therefore, there were many foreign business delegations come to Vietnam to find out opportunities in this area.

On January 11^th 2017, Chairman of Binh Dinh Province has met and worked with the President of Truong Thanh Investment and Development Co., Ltd (Vietnam) and Truong Thanh’s partners from Japan and Spain to find out opportunities to invest in solar energy plant project in Binh Dinh, Vietnam.

According to representatives of Truong Thanh, in recent time, the Company has made the solar power plant investment project proposal in Cat Hiep commune, Phu Cat district, Binh Dinh province. The project capacity is 95mW, using land area of about 150 hectares.

The expected investment capital for plant construction is 4,000 billion VND. Tuong Thanh Company wants to be supported by leaders in Binh Dinh Province and relevant local Government agencies with the investment procedures.

According to Chairman of Binh Dinh Province, they are always welcome and encourage enterprises to invest in power plant using renewable energy, which is very environmentally friendly.

ANT Consulting is here to assist you from the outset; providing corporate intelligence, risk advisory, management consulting services that assist market entrance, and ensure efficient business start-up operation.  Our services are as following:

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• Market Entry
• Tax Advice
• Legal Advice

We strive to save your cost by guiding you towards economical solutions that comply with local legislation and procedures. We support you through early logistic solutions and carry you through as your business grows.  We aim to bridge the gap between international best practices and local cultures and assist foreign companies and organizations entering Vietnam market to overcome commercial and regulatory issues.

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Vietnam, Ireland ink deals to build $2.2 billion wind farms

The farms, one in the central region and the other in the south, will have a combined capacity of 940 MW.

Companies from Vietnam, Ireland and the U.S. on Monday signed cooperation agreements to build two wind farms in Vietnam worth $2.2 billion.

Part of a wind farm in the Tuy Phong District of Binh Thuan Province. Photo courtesy of Nguoi Lao dong news site

The pacts are part of various deals reached by Vietnam and Ireland during the visit to Vietnam by President of Ireland Michael D. Higgins from November 5-14.

Vietnam’s Phu Cuong Corporation will join hands with Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd. and the U.S. giant General Electric to set up an 800-megawatt wind farm in the southern province of Soc Trang. The project will need $2 billion.

In the second project, Vietnam’s Pacific Corporation will cooperate with Mainstream Renewable Power Ltd. to build another 140-MW wind farm in the central province of Binh Thuan, which is worth $200 million for construction.

The same day Vietnam and Ireland also signed other agreements on poverty reduction, education and training, information and communications.

Vietnam has recently revised down the target for electricity generation by coal-fired thermal power plants from 56.4 percent of the total electricity generation to 53.2 percent by 2030.

The country is more focused on renewable energy, particularly solar and wind energy, targeting a renewable energy ratio of 10.7 percent by 2030.

But that will require a lot of investment in the coming years. Wind and solar power capacity is estimated to account for only 0.8 percent and 0.5 percent of total electricity generation respectively by 2020.

With over 3,000 km of coastline and numerous islands, Vietnam has more wind power potential than most of other Southeast Asian nations with a total estimated capacity of 24,000 MW, the Vietnam News Agency has reported.

Source: Bao Vnexpress

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Fast-growing Vietnam to invest $40 billion in electricity projects by 2020

The country is also shifting attention to renewable energy to meet the needs of the economy.

Vietnam may need to invest about VND859 trillion ($38 billion) in electricity generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure between now and 2020 to meet domestic demand, the government said in a new report.

 Fishermen working near the first towers of wind turbines from a Vietnamese wind power plant. Photo by AFP

That is equivalent to 20 percent of the country's gross domestic product last year.

According to the report, about 75 percent of the investment will go to generation and the remaining 25 percent to upgrade, repair and expand the national transmission and distribution system.

The government said a majority of the investment would be funded by loans and the state budget would cover only 0.5 percent.

The average electricity consumption steadily grew at 13 percent between 2000 and 2010, and about 11 percent between 2011 and 2015, said Le Tuan Phong, deputy head of the General Directorate of Energy, under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The country’s electricity demand is expected to continue to grow 13 percent annually in the next four years to feed the economy, which has grown above 5 percent a year on average since 1999 and is forecast to reach 6.5-7 percent in the next four years.

It is estimated that Vietnam will need about 47 billion kilowatt-hours by 2030 for the annual economic growth rate of 7 percent.

Vietnam is trying to generate enough energy for growth and for millions of people who still lack access to electricity while gradually shifting towards clean and low-carbon energy, said Tran Dinh Thien, who heads the Vietnam Economic Institute.

The government has recently revised down the target for electricity generation by coal-fired thermal power plants from 56.4 percent of the total electricity generation to 53.2 percent by 2030.

Vietnam is more focused on renewable energy, particularly solar and wind energy, targeting a renewable energy ratio of 10.7 percent by 2030.

But that will require a lot of investment in the coming years. Wind and solar power capacity is estimated to account for only 0.8 percent and 0.5 percent of total electricity generation respectively by 2020.

Source: Bao Vnexpress

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