Chairman of the southern province of Bac Lieu, Vo Van Dung, has approved a wind power project in Bac Lieu Town. The Cong Ly Co., Ltd. is permitted to build a wind power plant on around 500ha of land on the coast. The investor said that they will invest around 5 trillion dong (over $263 million) to build this 100MW power plant.
Surveys show that around 28,000 square kilometres of Vietnam’s land has an average wind speed of over seven metres per second at the height of 65 metres above sea level. This speed is considered suitable by international experts, who offered an assessment potential of over 110,000 megawatts (MW).
A survey by the World Bank has also found that Vietnam has greater wind energy potential than Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. It says Vietnam is capable of producing 513,360 MW annually, or 200 times the output of the Son La Hydroelectric Plant in the north – Southeast Asia’s largest power plant – and ten times the entire national capacity forecast for 2020.
Some coastal areas in the central and central highlands regions are considered good places to set up wind farms, thanks to high “wind power density” and open spaces.
The said that Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan provinces have the greatest potential for harnessing wind energy. Wind power generation in Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Tra Vinh and Soc Trang could reach 800MW.
In addition to high average speed, local wind tends to be steady due to the small amount of storms. During the monsoon period, winds reach speeds of six to seven metres per second, which experts consider suitable for building electricity stations with a capacity of 3-3.5 MW.
Experts said that wind energy has several advantages over other power sources: It does not cause pollution, affect crops or displace people. It also helps save on the cost of transmission since wind turbines can be set up near residential areas.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry carried out a project to draw up a master plan on developing alternative energy in the years to 2015 and through to 2025. Under this plan, renewable energy will increase to 5 percent of total national energy output, with wind and solar power accounting for half.
Over 20 wind power projects have been approved in Vietnam.
