Currently, the race to develop wind power in Vietnam is gathering many domestic and foreign enterprises. The excitement of the market is an indicator that our country has many opportunities to develop this energy source. With the strong commitment of the Government at the COP26 Conference and the introduction of the Power Plan 8, many experts believe that there will be a new wave of investment in wind power in Vietnam.
Making electricity from the blue sky
The assessment of the World Bank shows that Vietnam is a country with great wind energy potential in Southeast Asia with more than 39% of the area having an annual average wind speed of over 6m/s at an altitude of 65m. equivalent to 512GW. In particular, nearly 8% of the country's area has a steady wind of 7-8 meters per second. In the sea with a depth of 100m in the south, about 142,000km2, the wind speed is up to 10m/s in some places.
According to the announcement from the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Vietnam has 146 onshore and nearshore wind power projects with a total capacity of 8170MW that have signed power purchase contracts with EVN. Of which, 84 projects were put into commercial operation before November 1, 2021 (when the renewable energy price incentive policy expires), reaching 3980.27MW. Particularly for offshore wind power, Vietnam has only the 3.5GW La Gan project in Binh Thuan, which is currently in the continental shelf survey phase.
Map of Vietnam's wind energy potential
According to the best scenario of the Draft Power Plan 8, the scale of wind power can be expanded up to 120,450MW. At that time, the growth rate of this energy source will reach about 884.6% in the whole period of 2025-2045. Specifically:
Table: Total expected wind power capacity of Vietnam according to Draft Power Master Plan 8, period 2025-2045 (Unit: MW)
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The above figures show that Vietnam is placing a lot of expectations on wind power with the goal of making it the main source of electricity for many years to come, and at the same time creating the foundation for new industries such as storage batteries; producing hydrogen, green nitrogen;...
Demand for localization of turbine production
In the period of 2019-2021, the development of wind power plays a huge role from the FIT preferential purchase price of 8.9 USCent/kWh for projects on land. In fact, the purchase price of electricity from renewable energy in general and wind power in particular is higher than the selling price of EVN. Not to mention, in recent years, solar power and wind power have grown rapidly, putting pressure on other power sources, causing the overall price of electricity sold by EVN to all parties to increase. That creates the paradox that the power supply increases but the price does not decrease, making renewable energy not develop really sustainably. On the other hand, the preferential FIT pricing policy has expired; Wind power lost an important growth driver.
To solve the above problem, many experts say. Vietnam needs to localize the turbine manufacturing industry to optimize input costs and create a competitive basis for output electricity prices. This is a fertile opportunity for wind power developers in Vietnam, because the number of 3980.27MW of 84 wind power projects that have been commercially operated is not commensurate with the potential that our country possesses.
In the photo is Trung Hai 1 wind power plant, inaugurated in early 2022, of Trung Nam Group. The project uses all materials from Siemens Gamesa - the world's leading company in wind turbine manufacturing
On average, a conventional wind turbine (over 1MW) consists of 8,000 components, divided into 3 parts: turbine column (1); spoiler (2); bearing parts, gearbox, generator (3). In this area, Vietnam has advantages in supporting industries; local source of raw materials; Abundant labor force, especially a team of highly qualified officials and experts, with extensive experience in investment, construction and operation of projects. This completely meets the conditions of wind power developers who want to set up bases in Vietnam.
According to calculations by General Electrics, transportation accounts for 20% of the cost of a turbine because of their super-weight and super-long characteristics. Meanwhile, the investment for turbines usually costs up to ⅓ of the capital of a project. The orientation of domestic production will obviously cut transportation costs a lot.
The line of the GE Energy wind power component factory in Hai Phong
Since 2015, the Government has promulgated the National Renewable Energy Development Strategy to 2030, with a vision to 2045 in Decision No. 2068. One of the stated goals is to bring the equipment value ratio up. domestic production in the field of renewable energy will reach about 30% by 2020, increase to 60% by 2030, and by 2045, completely meet domestic demand, and are exported.
However, so far, Vietnam has only had GE Energy's factory located in Hai Phong, operating since 2010 until now. This facility specializes in producing generators for wind turbines with a capacity of 1.5MW for domestic demand and export to North America. Other components will be shipped to GE manufacturing plants and service centers around the world to form the finished product.
Thus, it can be seen that the level of localization of turbine production in Vietnam is still not high. Plant construction components and turbine operating software are constantly being imported, showing that there is still a lot of demand for wind power developers in Vietnam.
Multi-party cooperation model
For more than 10 years, the Government has encouraged businesses to invest in this field with a series of preferential policies stated in the Prime Minister's Decision No. 37 in 2011 on the mechanism to support project development. wind power in Vietnam.
Accordingly, investors are exempt from import tax on goods imported to create fixed assets. Regarding the cost of premises, projects will be reduced or exempted from land use fees and land rents. In addition, the construction of factories is carried out as for projects in the fields of special investment incentives specified in the Law on Investment and the Law on Corporate Income Tax. At the output, 100% of electricity from grid-connected plants is guaranteed for 20 years at preferential FIT prices.
According to many experts, capital is still the biggest difficulty to develop the electricity industry due to the slow recovery rate. This creates a need to attract resources from private businesses with financial potential through cooperation. Because a project needs to go through many stages when being implemented, each enterprise with a high level of specialization can fully undertake one stage in this process, such as a field survey unit; contractors; supplier; design consultancy; supervision consultants;...
Overview of RT Energy's Adani Phuoc Minh wind power project in Ninh Thuan
By establishing partnerships with local experienced and knowledgeable businesses such as RT Energy Corporation, the process of foreign investors entering the Vietnamese market will be ensured with their rights and limitations. mitigating risks.
In 2021, RT Energy successfully deployed the 27.2MW Adani Phuoc Minh wind power project in Ninh Thuan province. Despite the epidemic lasting for many months, the company still brought the project to the finish line on schedule, ensuring quality and requirements. Currently, the project has been put into operation, bringing in annual revenue of more than 8 million USD.
With Adani Phuoc Minh wind power, each year RT Energy will contribute more than 40 billion VND to the locality
The current head of RT Energy is President Saumya Swain. With more than 10 years of experience in the renewable energy sector in various positions such as regional director; founding partner; Senior advisor, he has many international cooperation activities on wind power in Asia - Pacific. Besides, General Director Ta Anh Tuan and Deputy General Director Nguyen Duc Dung are also leaders who have been trained abroad and worked in large economic groups. The rich international cooperation experience of the management board of RT Energy is a guarantee for the quality of cooperation and development with all businesses that have a partnership relationship with the group.
There are more than 20 years left for Vietnam to reach 120GW of wind power according to the plan of the Draft Power Master Plan 8. Thus, each year, the country must connect to the grid more than 5,000 MW to complete the target. Thus, it can be affirmed that Vietnam will be an attractive destination in the long term for businesses and developers of wind power in the long term because at the present time, the investment environment in this field will be very difficult. extend./.
