ADB provides loan worth $116 million for wind farms in Vietnam

This is the first ADB loan in wind energy in Vietnam (Illustration image)

The loan combines a $35 million component directly funded by ADB and an $81 million syndicated B loan. It forms part of a $173 million green loan project financing package arranged and syndicated by ADB as mandated lead arranger and bookrunner.

The ADB loan will be divided among Lien Lap Wind Power JSC, Phong Huy Wind Power JSC, and Phong Nguyen Wind Power JSC to build and operate three 48MW wind farms with a total capacity of 144MW, in Quang Tri province. The three enterprises are owned by Power Construction JSC No.1 (PCC1) and RENOVA, Inc.

Once completed, these wind farms will contribute to increasing the total capacity of wind power in Vietnam to 30 per cent compared to the existing estimated capacity. Besides, they will avoid an average of about 162,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

“Lien Lap, Phong Huy, and Phong Nguyen will add to ADB’s extensive experience in large-scale renewable energy projects in Vietnam and underlines our commitment to helping the country map a clean energy future,” said ADB Private Sector Operations Department Infrastructure Finance Division director for East Asia, Southeast Asia, and the Pacific Jackie B. Surtani.

“This is a milestone project which demonstrates how private financing can be effectively mobilised to develop wind power projects in Asia and the Pacific,” said Jackie B. Surtani.

Earlier in February this year, Quang Tri People’s Committee approved the investment planning of three wind farm projects worth VND5.8 trillion ($252.17 million) in Huong Hoa district.

The first project is Phong Nguyen, which is developed by Phong Nguyen JSC with the total investment of over VND1.91 trillion ($83 million). The Phong Huy project will be constructed in Tan Thanh and Huong Tan communes with the total capital of over VND1.9 trillion ($82.6 million). The Lien Lap project worth a total of over VND1.97 trillion (over $85.65 million).

Each project will have 12 wind turbines with a design capacity of 48MW and an operational life of 50 years.

Quang Tri is a locality with great potential for developing wind farms. The western mountainous areas of the province, especially border communes in Huong Hoa district, have an average wind speed of 6-7m per second.