Cong Ly kicks off two more wind power projects

The wind power farm in Bac Lieu

Notably, on January 30, Cong Ly organised the ground-breaking ceremonies of the Bac Lieu wind farm phase III—approximately VND8.3 trillion ($365.5 million)—and the Soc Trang wind power project phase I, worth VND1.68 trillion ($73.98 million).

Notably, phase III of the Bac Lieu wind power project covers an area of 6,250 hectares at Vinh Trach Dong commune of Bac Lieu city and has a capacity of 142MW. The construction of the project is expected to be finished within 36 months.

The Soc Trang wind power project is located at Lai Hoa commune of Vinh Chau town and has a total capacity of 98MW with total investment capital of VND5.39 trillion ($237.4 million). The construction of the project will be implemented in three phases. Accordingly the first phase will have 30MW in capacity, the second phase 30MW, and the third phase 38MW. The construction of the first phase is expected to be finished within 36 months. It is expected to generate 257 million kWh per year to connect with the national power grid.

Previously, on January 17, 2016, Cong Ly started the full operation of the 99MW Bac Lieu wind farm, the construction of which started in 2010, has an area of 1,300ha and total investment capital of VND5.2 trillion ($233 million).

Since the first wind turbine was connected to the national grid in May 2013, the farm has produced 130 million KWh, earning a revenue of VND150 billion ($6.7 million) and paying VND15 billion ($672,000) in tax.

Along with the above projects, Cong Ly has started the construction of phase I of Khai Long-Ca Mau tourism zone wind farm in the southernmost province of Ca Mau. The construction of the project was kicked off on January 16, 2016.

To be built on a total of 2,165ha of land and sea surface area, the 100MW wind farm is scheduled for completion in 2018. It will be connected to the national grid and will sell power to state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN). The plant’s total investment value is about VND6.5 trillion ($291.5 million).

In July 2016, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc authorised Cong Ly to sell electricity to EVN from its Khai Long-Ca Mau wind farm for 9.8 UScents per kWh, not including value added tax.

The figure is equivalent to the feed-in-tariff at its Bac Lieu wind power, which is much higher than the 7.8 UScents fixed by the government under Decision No.37/2011/QD-TTg dated June 29, 2011 on the mechanism supporting the development of wind power projects in Vietnam.

Previously, Cong Ly’s general director To Hoai Dan told VIR the reason for its call for a higher feed-in-tariff than what was then provided by the government is that the project is located on the coastline, thus the company incurs extra charges on constructing the foundations of the wind turbines. The company also used the most advanced turbines, which pushed up the investment cost.