Obstacles to offshore gas and wind power to be removed

Notice No.12/TB-VPCP, dated September 12, states that the Government Standing Committee has requested the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to urgently review all power sources in Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8) to shift from coal to gas power and prioritise domestic production to achieve annual electricity growth of 12-15 per cent. This is to ensure national energy security and provide enough electricity for households and businesses, meeting the commitments to foreign investors in particular.

The MoIT will also study the experience of nuclear-power using countries before proposing the development of nuclear power in Vietnam.

The ministry has to closely work with relevant authorities, especially the Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and PetroVietnam, to review legal issues in implementing power projects, urgently completing the amended Electricity Law, as well as review legal problems related to the development of power projects, propose solutions, and send to the Ministry of Planning and Investment to synthesise the recommendations into a draft law amending many laws, including those on investment, bidding, public-private partnership, resources, marine environment, and construction.

A working group will be established and led by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien as head of the group, Dang Hoang An, chairman of EVN, and Le Manh Hung, chairman of Petrovietnam as deputy heads. The group will review all legal problems in the implementation of electricity projects, and then propose amendments and supplements to complete the Electricity Law, which will be completed before September 20 and submitted to the National Assembly for approval at the eighth session.

"For licensed projects, developers have to comply with their commitments, unless the competent authority will resolutely revoke the licence in accordance with the provisions of law," Notice 12 highlighted.

The politburo has also issued a policy for piloting the production and export of offshore wind (OSW) power in Conclusion No.76-KL/TW dated April 24, on the implementation of Resolution No.41-NQ/TW on the orientation of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Industry Development Strategy to 2025, through to 2035.

Therefore, the Government Standing Committee requested Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son to immediately assign it to relevant units for implementation. "To overcome legal issues in OSW projects, such as regulations on output and transfer pricing, solutions should be raised and added into draft laws," the notice highlighted.

According to the PDP8, by 2030, Vietnam will have about 23,000MW of wind power, including 6,000MW from OSW. Vietnam has identified renewable energy sources, especially OSW, as the main energy source following the country's energy transition to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality by 2050.

A list of 96 planned OSW projects are in PDP8, including those in Haiphong (six projects, capacity 16,200MW), Nam Dinh (six projects, 12,000MW), Thanh Hoa (one project, 5,000MW), Quang Binh (five projects, 4,109MW), Binh Dinh (seven projects, 8,600MW), Ninh Thuan (14 projects, 25,802MW), Binh Thuan (10 projects, 30,200MW), Tra Vinh (seven projects, 10,300MW), Ca Mau (six projects, 8,055MW), and Bac Lieu (10 projects, 5,255MW), all with a total capacity of 156,286MW.

Meanwhile, according to national energy planners, Vietnam will need about 185,000–208,500MW by 2050. If the above projects are approved for investment and put into operation, OSW projects alone will be enough to meet the initial forecast.

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.

Maybank extends green trade finance for Ca Mau 1 Wind Power Project Maybank has extended financing to Sinohydro, a subsidiary of Power Construction Corporation of China (POWERCHINA), for an EPC project to construct offshore wind power farms of the Ca Mau 1 wind power project in the southern province of Ca Mau.