Books shed light on wind energy

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the German Development Co-operation (GIZ) released two handbooks on wind energy in Viet Nam yesterday to help investors and local authorities develop wind power projects.

General director of the ministry’s Energy Department Pham Manh Thang said that renewable energy would play a critical role in the country’s energy development but investors were still faced with difficulties due to lack of a national master plan and legal framework.

Thang said that the ministry had submitted a draft to the Government outlining wind power project management that included support policies and investor incentives.

The two bilingual handbooks in English and Vietnamese are titled Information on the wind energy sector of Viet Nam and Guidelines on wind power planning in Viet Nam.

This was part of a four-year project started in 2008 and commissioned by the German Government, aimed at improving the political framework for grid-connected wind energy in Viet Nam.

Chief Technical Advisor for the project Angelika Wasielke said that during the project, they had met with many companies and developers who wanted to know more about the legal framework and incentives for investors, so she hoped that the information collated in the two handbooks would be useful.

Information on the wind energy sector in Viet Nam provides details about the legal framework, incentives for potential investors, background information about wind energy in Viet Nam, existing projects, investment procedures, financing and turbine manufacturers.

Guidelines on Wind Power Planning was written based on the lessons learnt from the first pilot wind power planning in the central province of Binh Thuan. The six-chapter handbook explains the importance of wind power planning, how to select sites for wind power projects, required relevant documents, and inspection and monitoring procedures.

Ministry official Thang said that the ministry would also issue further guidelines for investors soon.

There are 20 wind turbines installed in Binh Thuan that generate 30MW each year.

The Energy Institute estimated that the country’s electricity demands would increase from 87 billion KWh in 2009 to 570 billion KWh in 2030, at a rate of 10 per cent per year. The country targets wind power to account for 5 per cent of power consumed by 2020 and 11 per cent by 2050.

Under the draft decision on wind power management, investors would enjoy tax incentives and further incentives to connect to the national grid. Moreover, Electricity of Viet Nam would pay 6.8 cent per KWh and the State would contribute 1 cent per KWh to investors.

Dinh Xuan Hung, former director of the Wind Power Department of Energy Institute said that the guidelines only mentioned onshore planning while offshore planning was also a viable option.

He said that provinces that wanted to develop the industry in their localities not only needed to identify sites for the projects but also to map out detailed plans in line with socio-economic development including financing, human resources and potential markets. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam energy, Vietnam wind energy