Good news from offshore wind power construction site

Vietnam is considered to have the largest offshore wind power resources in Southeast Asia and the fifth largest in Asia. In Vung Tau city, there are currently initial steps to exploit this resource by the Petroleum Technical Services Corporation ( PTSC ), a member of the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group (PVN).

Workers and engineers of Petroleum Technical Services Joint Stock Company complete offshore wind power base under contract with foreign partner

Visiting the manufacturing base of PTSC port, which is over 200 hectares wide in (Ward 9, Vung Tau city) in early March 2024, it is like a large construction site, with thousands of workers and engineers working busily, lots of noise from equipment and machinery operating continuously, factories being used at full capacity, all are determined to complete the goal of manufacturing wind power bases, offshore wind power transformer stations on schedule, outside the port are ships supplying materials and equipment, entering the port one by one to provide necessary materials. In recent years, PTSC is the only Vietnamese enterprise to win international bids for the construction of offshore wind power bases and wind power transformer stations for foreign investors. Up to now, many bases and mechanical components manufactured by PTSC have been exported to Taiwan (China) and Nordic countries.

PTSC General Director Le Manh Cuong said: PTSC has more than 30 years of experience providing technical services for large domestic and international oil and gas projects. In particular, in the field of oil and gas mechanics, more than 100 projects have been successfully implemented domestically and internationally; in particular, the projects that PTSC won international bids for are projects with strict technical and progress requirements. Therefore, up to now, PTSC has been assessed by experts as having full capacity to invest in project development as well as providing a service chain for the offshore wind power industry.

PTSC General Director Le Manh Cuong reports project progress to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha

Knowing the PTSC brand through oil and gas mechanical projects, foreign offshore wind power project investors have visited and inspected PTSC's capacity many times. Because, between oil and gas and offshore wind power, there are many similarities that can complement each other. "PTSC is fully capable of providing transformer station and base fabrication services for offshore wind power projects.

With the foundation, resources, means, and experienced workforce, having “fought” and successfully implemented high-quality projects in many places, we are confident in meeting the requirements of international customers,” Mr. Le Manh Cuong affirmed. With a large area, fully equipped with equipment, factories, and wharves, including the most modern equipment in the Asia- Pacific region, investors have chosen PTSC as a partner. This has been proven in the past time, PTSC has been trusted by international offshore wind power developers to participate in their supply chain.

Specifically, in May 2023, PTSC won the bid and signed a contract with Orsted Group to manufacture and supply 33 wind power bases for the CHW2204 offshore wind farm project in Taiwan (China) with a total capacity of 920 MW. PTSC has also signed and is implementing contracts to design and manufacture nine offshore substations (OSS) for offshore wind power projects in Taiwan (China) and Europe (Baltic Sea area).

These projects have a total contract value of approximately 1.5 billion USD and are 100% manufactured in Vietnam for export abroad. The projects have created jobs for thousands of workers and led to the development of other supporting industries. In particular, last year PTSC was proud to be selected by the Singaporean Government to cooperate with partner Sembcorp (Singapore) to sign an investment cooperation agreement to develop a 2.3 GW offshore wind power project in Vietnam to export electricity to Singapore via an undersea high-voltage cable.

Secretary of the Ba Ria-Vung Tau Provincial Party Committee Pham Viet Thanh said: In addition to the petrochemical industry, the province also has an emerging and potential industry, which is the wind power equipment manufacturing industry. We have outstanding potential and advantages compared to other localities in this industry. Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Tho commented: There are many large-scale steel manufacturing enterprises in the province; among them, there are a number of enterprises that produce special steel, with high quality, qualified for export.

Steel manufacturing enterprises in the province need to determine a long-term strategy, with appropriate investment directions in technology, factories, and production lines to produce products that meet the supply requirements for projects such as those that PTSC is implementing and will implement. Enterprises in the province participate in the supply chain of materials and services, contributing to local socio-economic development.

A corner of the large construction site seen from above at the PTSC port, which is over 200 hectares wide, in Ward 9, Vung Tau City.

With a coastline of more than 3,000 km, international experts assess Vietnam as the country with the best wind resources in Southeast Asia, ranking 5th in Asia and 13th in the world. According to the World Bank, Vietnam's offshore wind power potential is about 600 GW... This resource is an opportunity for Vietnam to provide a large source of green energy at an effective cost to develop the economy in the context of gradually depleting primary energy sources, while supporting the country to achieve the goal of net zero emissions by 2050 as committed at the COP26 Conference. Notably,

The recently issued Power Plan VIII also emphasizes the strong development of onshore and offshore wind power, most importantly not limiting the development of exported wind power. With the above global trends and wind power resource potential, experts say that the current period is the “golden time” for Vietnam to start and participate in the offshore renewable energy industry.

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha assessed that PTSC is mastering a very difficult and complicated step in designing and manufacturing offshore wind power equipment that not many enterprises in the world are capable of doing. PTSC has researched and found a historic direction in developing offshore wind power, affirming the role, position and prestige of Vietnam in transforming science and technology in the field of renewable energy. Regarding the offshore wind power project in cooperation with Singapore, the Government will consider and decide. The Deputy Prime Minister also said that PTSC's idea of proposing to build a Renewable Energy Center in Ba Ria-Vung Tau will be supported by the Government, ministries, branches, corporations and provinces when the project is scientifically developed and has a clear roadmap.

Although the potential of offshore wind power is as mentioned, so far, investors are facing many difficulties in participating in offshore wind power development due to the lack of legal corridors, the national marine spatial planning has not been approved, so there is no basis to determine the scope of marine management. In addition, the investment law has not yet specified the authority to decide on investment policies for this type of project; regulations on procedures, order, records, management of measurement, monitoring, investigation, survey, and assessment of marine and wind resources are also not available...

Therefore, to develop this sector, the Government needs to soon issue mechanisms and policies for implementation. Mr. Le Manh Cuong proposed: To have a synchronous and complete market in the future, first of all, there needs to be an immediate solution. And the solution is to have a "pilot" plan and project. "Vietnam needs to quickly select investors, have special and privileged institutions, then plan policies, connect and initiate supply chains," said Mr. Cuong.

With the need to develop offshore wind power and renewable energy while not having time to build and perfect a stable and long-term policy mechanism, the Government needs to have documents, mechanisms and projects to allow the Vietnam National Oil and Gas Group, PTSC and enterprises with sufficient capacity and conditions... to apply and deploy a number of offshore wind power projects under pilot mechanisms and specific policies. "PTSC recommends that the Government soon have a mechanism to encourage and attract investment and develop offshore wind power to promote internal resources, giving priority to domestic enterprises, corporations and state-owned corporations participating in this field," Mr. Cuong suggested.

At the end of August 2023, PTSC became the first and only investor in Vietnam licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment to fully implement activities of monitoring, investigating, surveying, and evaluating marine resources. In October 2023, PTSC's partner Sembcorp was also granted a conditional electricity import license from the Singapore Energy Market Authority (EMA). Mr. Le Manh Cuong said: In 2024, PTSC will conduct offshore surveys.

According to Nhan Dan Newspaper.

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