Norway’s Equinor pulls out of Vietnam’s offshore wind market

August 26, 2024 | 09:00

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Norway's state-controlled energy giant Equinor ASA has pulled out of Vietnam's offshore wind sector and shut down its Hanoi office.

Norway’s Equinor pulls out of Vietnam’s offshore wind market

The move is part of the company's efforts to refocus its portfolio, amid ongoing political upheaval in the Southeast Asian country and uncertainties over the company's development path.

Equinor has decided to end its business development in Vietnam and close its Hanoi office that was geared to offshore wind, its spokesperson told Reuters.

The company has already withdrawn from more than a dozen fossil fuel projects to concentrate on renewable energy and low-carbon systems.

Despite the abundant potential, offshore wind power projects in Vietnam face hurdles due to legal uncertainties and ambiguities.

Last year, Danish offshore wind giant Ørsted A/S also paused its multi-gigawatt offshore wind plans in Vietnam due to regulatory challenges.

To date, Vietnam has not initiated any true offshore wind projects and has only developed intertidal wind projects situated near the shore, thus the target of installing 6GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 presents considerable challenges, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

Measures for offshore wind must be carried out rapidly

Vietnam’s ambition to achieve 6GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030 is increasingly adrift, with not enough work carried out on legalities and developer support.

MoIT report addresses offshore wind project concerns

Despite the ambitious targets set out by the Power Development Plan VIII, no offshore wind projects have yet been approved or assigned to investors.

Progress demanded for offshore wind

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has proposed that two state-owned energy corporations or military-run units be selected to develop offshore wind power projects, although the sector is still struggling with complex processes.

By Thanh Van

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