Prospects for offshore wind power development

Lam Dong province has a 192 km long coastline with many advantages for developing offshore wind power and marine economy . Photo: Chinh Thanh

Currently, Lam Dong is promoting the attraction and development of offshore wind power projects according to the National Power Development Plan (Power Plan VIII), combined with other types of renewable energy to serve domestic needs and export. The province's goal is to attract investment in offshore wind power of about 2,000 MW in the 2025 - 2030 period and about 2,300 MW in the 2031 - 2035 period.

According to Mr. Tran Ky Phuc - Director of the Institute of Energy, after many years of updating data, the institute has found that the wind power advantage of the South Central region, especially Lam Dong province, has the best offshore wind power potential, due to high wind speed and the lowest seabed depth in the whole country. Therefore, in the adjusted Power Plan VIII, the total capacity allocated to this region is 4,300 MW.

With that advantage, recently, many domestic and foreign enterprises have surveyed and raised the issue of investing in offshore wind power in Lam Dong. Among them, many prestigious companies from countries such as the United States, Denmark, England, etc. have come to survey and promote project investment.

Pacifico Energy Corporation of the United States has surveyed and implemented an offshore wind power investment project in the Lam Dong sea area. It is known that Pacifico Energy is currently the largest renewable energy investor in the United States, with the Mui Ne solar power project with a capacity of 40 MW and an area of 38 hectares.

The project has now been connected to the grid and certified for commercial operation. Each year, the plant generates 68 million kWh of electricity, contributing to a reduction of nearly 55,500 tons of CO₂.

In addition, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners Group (Denmark) and domestic partners are promoting the La Gan Offshore Wind Power project.

The La Gan Offshore Wind Power Project has an expected capacity of 3.5 GW, which, when completed, can provide energy for more than 7 million households per year. The project aims to become the first large-scale offshore wind power project in Vietnam with a total investment value of about 10.5 billion USD.

In addition to ongoing projects, Lam Dong currently has two offshore wind power projects with a total estimated investment of nearly 30 billion USD.

According to the leader of Lam Dong Department of Industry and Trade, in addition to the above projects, in the coming time, the province will focus on re-organizing the development space planning according to new thinking, new ways of doing things, suitable to the current development goals and context.

However, the offshore wind power sector still faces many difficulties that need to be resolved. According to the Electricity Law, the basic investigation of renewable energy and new energy electricity is under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment for marine areas and the Provincial People's Committee for mainland and islands.

In addition, through reviewing legal regulations in the field of industry and trade, there are currently no clear regulations on the authority, order, and procedures for surveying, measuring radiation, installing wind measuring columns (onshore and offshore), as well as standards for using water and land surface areas for 1 MW of wind and solar power.

Meanwhile, the investigation of renewable energy resources in marine areas is under the authority of the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, while the responsibility for ensuring energy security belongs to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Regarding this issue, according to Director Tran Ky Phuc, currently, the approach to offshore wind power projects in any province will be under the authority of that province in some stages of planning and investment preparation.

“As far as I know, the Ministry of Finance is seeking opinions from ministries, branches and localities on wind power projects and is expected to hand them over to the localities. Therefore, Lam Dong province needs to soon have opinions, discuss and make recommendations to the Ministry of Finance to have enough legal basis to deploy this energy sector,” Director Tran Ky Phuc emphasized.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/trien-vong-phat-trien-dien-gio-ngoai-khoi-394500.html