GE turbines selected for Tay Nguyen wind farm

The MoU signing ceremony was held during the visit of GE’s vice chairman and president & CEO of GE Global Growth and Operations John G. Rice to Vietnam.

The agreement between GE and HBRE on the Tay Nguyen wind power project will utilise GE technology in a joint effort to develop economic and renewable energy in Vietnam. Under the agreement, GE will help HBRE to undertake wind engineering analyses, analyse site layout, and assess constructability.

GE will also provide wind turbine generators for the site conditions. Additionally, GE will support HBRE in developing electrical design concepts and facilitating discussions on financial arrangements, as well as working with relevant agencies to move the project forward. GE is committed to the long-term maintenance of the wind turbines and a full service agreement is also part of the agreement.

The Tay Nguyen project is located in Ea H’Leo district, which has a high potential for wind energy, with an average wind speed of 7.6 metres per second. The project’s investor HBRE is a real estate company and is responsible for the design, construction and operation of the wind farm at Dile Yang.

“The cooperation with HBRE on the Tay Nguyen project builds from our accomplishment of providing 52 wind turbines to the Bac Lieu wind power plant last December,” said CEO of GE Vietnam and Cambodia Nguyen My Lan at the signing ceremony. “This is a clear demonstration of our continuous commitment to support the development of the local community as well as to contribute to the development of renewable energy in Vietnam.”

“We are delighted to cooperate with GE on this project and believe this collaboration will be successful,” Ho Ta Tin, chairman of HBRE Company said. “This project will contribute to the improvement of social and economic conditions in Daklak by creating hundreds of jobs that require technical and industrial skills, while contributing additional power to the national grid.  We also hope this project will help attract further investment to Dak Lak and provide momentum to move forward with wind power development in the region and in Vietnam.”

GE provides technology support for a variety of power generation projects across the country. With an installed capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts in Vietnam, GE equipment today supplies approximately 10 per cent of the country’s electricity capacity.

In 2009, GE opened a factory to support its wind division in the northern port city of Haiphong. Last year, the US group increased its total investments in the factory to $110 million, up from an initial $50 million, to expand its production capacity to meet the global demand. The manufacturing facility has created over 600 local jobs and exported thousands of wind turbine generators and other energy equipment to GE’s manufacturing and service centres around the globe.