VietNamNet Bridge - The government of Binh Thuan Province is keen on developing tidal energy after some foreign investors asked to carry out tidal power projects along the coastline of the province, said an official of the province’s Department of Industry and Trade.

Ho Son Hung, vice director of the department, told the Daily that although the province has a long coastline which has huge potential for tidal power generation, the provincial government could not say ‘yes’ to any investor yet because this is a fresh issue.

“The development of tidal power projects in the province is still facing difficulties because of the lack of data for wavelength and other technical figures to create favorable conditions for the investors to produce electricity from the sea waves,” he said.

He said that tidal power generation had become popular in some other countries but it is still quite new to Vietnam in general and in Binh Thuan Province in particular.

According to energy experts, the investment cost of tidal power is around VND18 billion per MW, much lower than the investment cost of hydropower of some VND24 billion per MW.

With a total coastline of 192 kilometers, Binh Thuan has a huge potential for developing renewable energy such as wind power, solar power and tidal power.

However, the vice director of the department said that in recent years the province government has been very unsure about investing in renewable energy because of the lack of detailed plans for renewable power, the selling price of renewable power as well as favorable mechanism for investors.

Tidal energy is produced through the use of tidal energy generators. Large underwater turbines are placed in areas with high tidal movements and are designed to capture the kinetic motion of the ebbing and surging of ocean tides in order to produce electricity.

Tidal power could be an alternative power source for Vietnam in the future because the country has such a long coastline.

Source: SGT