Ministry urged to ensure support for wind power

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai has instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to complete policies to support wind power projects in Viet Nam and set up favourable conditions for investors.

At a meeting of the ministry in Ha Noi yesterday, Hai said the application of wind power in Viet Nam was in the early stage. He said the installed wind power capacity in Viet Nam was estimated to be 9 MegaWatt (MW), 7.5MW of which had been connected to the national grid. The remainder were household wind turbines.

He said the wind potential in Viet Nam had not been fully tapped due to difficulties in geographical conditions, technology and high and fluctuating development costs.

The highest level of development costs was US$2.77 million per MW while the lowest was only $1.77 million per MW; the average investment to produce 1MW was US$2.2 million.

To date, there were 21 wind projects under way that could produce enough electricity to connect to the grid. Those projects were centred in the central provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan and Lam Dong.

Hai said the licence granting procedure was still spontaneous and unplanned.

Hai requested that the new policy mechanisms had to clearly specify preferential treatment to help investors develop feasible wind projects. There should be policies to subsidise electricity, tax and land fees, notably the establishment of a renewable energies support fund.

A new mechanism should create a consistent legal framework for wind power in particular and renewable energy in general to act as a foundation for localities to refer to when faced with new energy project proposals. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam wind power