Although numerous foreign and domestic enterprises expressed their interest in investing in wind farms in Vietnam, so far only domestic firms started actually implementing such projects.

According to information published on the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), Phu Lac Wind Power Plant-Phase I in the south-central province of Binh Thuan will come into commercial operation and join the national grid on November 25.

In its first phase the project installed twelve turbines with a combined capacity of 24 megawatts. It is scheduled to supply around 200,000 kWh of electricity a day to the national grid.

The construction of the 400-hectare plant was started in July 2015 with the total investment capital of VND1.1 trillion ($49.12 million) put forward by Thuan Binh Wind Power JSC.

The facility is the third operational wind power plant in Binh Thuan, after the 30MW Tuy Phong wind power plant invested by Vietnam Renewable Energy JSC and the 6MW wind power project invested by PetroVietnam Power Renewable Energy Limited Company on Phu Quy Island.

Earlier on January 17, another domestic firm, Cong Ly Construction-Trade-Tourism Co., Ltd., started the full operation of Bac Lieu wind farm. The 99MW farm, which was constructed on an area of 1,300 hectares, has the total investment capital of VND5.2 trillion ($233 million). 

A company representative said that Cong Ly planned to implement the next phase soon, building 71 additional wind turbines of 2MW each for VND8.85 trillion ($397 million). The construction is scheduled to be carried out over 36 months and operation is going to start in 2018.

Along with positive moves from domestic firms, all previously licensed wind farms invested by foreign investors are long delayed in construction.

In Ninh Thuan alone, there are currently 12 wind farm projects in the province’s master plan, however, all of them are behind schedule. These projects include Mui Dinh, as well as the wind farms of Enfinity, South Korean LandVille Energy, and Malaysian wind power company Timur.

In April 2016, Ninh Thuan denied the plan of Argentinean wind farm company IMPSA to invest in a project in Ninh Phuoc and Thuan Nam districts. The reason was that IMPSA had not finished the administrative procedures to start investment within six months, as promised back in 2011 when the Ninh Thuan People’s Committee agreed to the project in principle.

Earlier, IMPSA proposed constructing a wind farm and a plant producing wind turbine parts, with the total investment value between $2 and $3 billion. At the end of 2011, IMPSA gained approval to raise the project area to 1,000 hectares from the initial 600. Since then, the company made no more moves.

VIR