German helps study wind energy in Vietnam

Co-organised by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and GTZ, two books introduced are material involved in the Wind Energy Project, commissioned by the German Government’s Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, has been working for three years to help improve the political framework for grid-connected wind energy in Vietnam.

Information on the “Wind Energy Sector in Vietnam” presents the legal framework and incentives given to potential investors. It also includes important information on investment procedures and financing possibilities.

Meanwhile, the methodology for wind power planning and selecting suitable sites is the main focus of the second study, “Guidelines on Wind Power Planning”. It is based on lessons learnt from the first pilot project on wind power planning in Binh Thuan province, which was implemented successfully with the support of consultants from Germany.

The manual provides guidelines for effective wind power planning for local authorities and stresses on the need to identify special zones on a local level, such as exclusion zones, buffer zones and zones for the use of wind energy.

“Our goal is to make it easier for investors to set up wind energy projects in Vietnam and advise local authorities on how to become more effective in the planning process,’ explains Angelika Wasielke, chief technical advisor of GIZ’s Wind Energy Project.

Wind energy is an environment-friendly technology that can help solve the energy problems of Vietnam. It can also contribute to climate change mitigation by reducing CO2 emissions.

Worldwide wind energy is on the rise. Global wind power installations increased by 35.8 GW in 2010, according to figures released by the Global Wind Energy Council in February 2011.

This brings the total installed wind energy capacity up to 194.5 GW, a 22.5 per cent increase to the 158.7 GW installed by the end of 2009.