Remove barriers to offshore wind power development

Vietnam has the largest wind potential in Southeast Asia

The main advantage of offshore wind energy is its ability to generate a higher area because wind speeds over the ocean are generally more stable and stronger than on land.

Another plus is that offshore wind farms can be installed over wider seas with little or no impact on residential areas.

As a tropical country with a coastline of more than 3,200km, and a total sea area of ​​about 1 million square kilometers, Vietnam is considered to have great potential for wind power, especially offshore wind power.

According to the survey results of the Energy Assessment Program for Asia of the World Bank (WB), Vietnam has the largest wind power potential in Southeast Asia, estimated at 513,360MW, 200 times larger than the capacity of Son La Hydropower Plant.

Notably, the world, renewable energy technology is developing rapidly, technology costs are rapidly decreasing, and technological solutions for electricity transmission and storage are making new advances.

This is a good opportunity for the Government of Vietnam to continue developing policies and plans to realize the goal of energy transition towards green growth.

“Focusing on developing green, clean, and sustainable energy, meeting international commitments on climate change has been identified as a key and cross-cutting goal in Vietnam's national energy development strategy. Developing wind power, offshore wind power and gradually forming a domestic industry in equipment installation, construction, and manufacturing in order to increase autonomy and reduce costs are the major orientations of the Government of Vietnam in the coming years. next year," emphasized Mr. Pham Nguyen Hung, Deputy Director of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy, Ministry of Industry and Trade.

A corner of Bac Lieu wind power plant, Bac Lieu province.

Need a clear institutional framework for wind power development

The development of offshore wind power is of great significance because it can combine the goals of socio-economic growth, energy security, and industrialization with low carbon emissions towards the goal of net zero emissions. in 2050.

But for offshore wind power, there are many opportunities but also great challenges. According to Mr. Bui Vinh Thang, Country Director for Vietnam of the Global Wind Energy Council, to promote the green energy transition, Vietnam needs both technical and financial resources. This is especially important for offshore wind projects, which take a long time and require large investments to design, build and commercialize.

Therefore, to ensure the feasibility of wind power projects in Vietnam, domestic and foreign enterprises both need a clear and stable institutional framework; at the same time, it is necessary to establish an inter-ministerial Coordinating Committee, chaired by the Ministry of Industry and Trade to accelerate the resolution of obstacles in wind power development.

“Policies and regulations need to be urgently and clearly planned to ensure the achievement of the target of 7,000MW of offshore wind power by 2030 as the target of the draft National Power Development Plan for the period 2021- 2030, with a vision to 2045," said Mr. Bui Vinh Thang.

Sharing the current challenges in offshore wind power development, Mr. Pham Nguyen Hung said that offshore wind power in the period to 2030 is still a source of electricity with high construction investment costs.

In addition, offshore wind power development requires a high level of synchronous infrastructure, enhancing the system's operability and improving the quality of human resources. Given the complexity of offshore wind power projects (including onshore and offshore works), it is necessary to complete legal and sub-law documents, complete regulations on project survey, assign areas sea, and environmental impact assessment...

Mr. Ha Dang Son, Director of the Center for Research on Energy and Green Growth, said that Vietnam has not had experience in developing this type of offshore wind power source due to the complex nature of techniques and technology, processes and procedures investment procedures, and large investment scale.

Therefore, it is necessary to have a clear roadmap with very specific steps for each ministry, sector, or stakeholder to realize the commitments as well as specific strategies, orientations, and goals for developing renewable energy development in Vietnam.

In which, order to attract investment, especially investment from the private sector in the field of wind power and offshore wind power, Mr. Ha Dang Son suggested that it is necessary to improve the legal and institutional framework to ensure that the investment capital is attracted, will have a sufficient basis for the concerned ministries and branches to urgently review and approve to promptly implement the set schedule, especially for the period from now to the next year 2030.