Waking up wind power potentiality

While wind power has been developed very robustly in the world for almost a decade, with an annualised growth 29 % in the 2000 – 2010 period, Vietnam has started with this new sort of energy after hydropower and thermal power plants fail to support socioeconomic development speed.

Rich potential

Lying in a subtropical monsoon climate and having its long coastline, Vietnam has the largest potentiality for wind-to-power energy development among four countries in the region, including Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Thailand. Compared with the average wind speed in the East Sea of Vietnam and surrounding regions, the wind in the East Sea is relatively strong and seasonally changeable. Vietnam is also considered having the largest wind-to-power potentials compared with other regional countries like Thailand, Laos and Cambodia. The World Bank (WB), in an Asia energy valuation programme report, said the total capacity of wind power potentialities is estimated at 713,000 MW. On the territory of Vietnam, two regions have the largest potentials for wind energy development, namely Son Hai (Ninh Thuan province) and a sandy hill region at an altitude of 60-100m in the west of Ham Tien-Mui Ne town (Binh Thuan province).

These places not only have a stronger average wind speed but also suffer few storms than other areas in the country. According to statistics, they can house wind mills 3 – 3.5 MW. Islands like Bach Long Vi, Phu Quy and Truong Sa have stronger wind speed than other places. This is a good condition for building large capacity wind mills for islanders. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, up to 8.6 % of Vietnam’s territory is assessed to have from “good” to “very good” potentialities for construction of large-scaled wind power plants, especially in southern provinces, estimated to have a capacity of approximately 1,780 MW. The capacity in Ninh Thuan, Binh Thuan, Tra Vinh and Soc Trang is forecast to reach 800 MW.

In midst of limited natural resources and power shortage, wind power has become a valuable energy source.

Wind power cannot completely replace traditional electricity sources such as coal-fire, oil-fuelled, hydroelectric and nuclear power sources, it can provide billions of kilowatts of electricity, replacing traditional power sources. However, in spite of holding many advantages to develop wind-driven energy, Vietnam is wasting this source of energy. Mr Nguyen Van Ban, a senior clean energy expert, said: Basing on analytical data from 151 meteorological stations in the country, wind map of the World Bank announced 2001 and anemometer data collected from 1998 to 2009, the total capacity for wind-power generation is estimated at 713,000 MW, including coasts. Meanwhile, the total capacity of power plants across the country is 19,378 MW. This figure is too small in relation to resources.

According to economists, Vietnam will have to import coal from foreign countries to feed power plants from 2012.

Prospect

Wind power uses unlimited source of fuel and causes no environmental impacts. As hydroelectric and thermal power plants in our country increasingly fail to meet the demand and pace of socioeconomic development, wind power is considered a promising direction. A 100-MW wind power mill could generate 250 million kWh of electricity a year.

In fact, the first wind power joint venture was initiated in Vietnam in 1997 and the chosen locations were Phuong Mai Peninsula, Quy Nhon City and Phu Cat district, Binh Dinh province. The Danish partner contributed 90 % of investment capital in the form of zero interest preferential credits for small and medium enterprises in Vietnam under the DANIDA programme. As regards technology, the project used all machinery from Denmark, which has the most developed wind power technologies in the world. According to experts, the wind power project in Binh Dinh was successful and efficient, other coastal localities and offshore islands can develop wind power.

According to statistics, some 20 enterprises have been licensed to invest in wind power in Vietnam, including 12 projects with a combined capacity of over 2,000 MW in Binh Thuan province. Nonetheless, to date, only one wind power project (Tuy Phong district, Binh Thuan province) invested by Vietnam Renewable Energy Joint Stock Company (REVN) started operating in 2009. And, by the end of June 2010, this project supplied 11 million kWh of electricity to the national grid but electricity selling price has not been determined.

Apart from the operational Wind Power Plant 1 in Binh Thuan province, many projects have been kicked off across the country, including the 800-KW Bach Long Vi wind mill invested by the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union’s Central Committee, the 2-KW Kon Tum wind power project in Kon Tum province invested by Japan’s NEDO and implemented by the Vietnam Energy Institute, the 9-KW Truong Sa wind power project and the 7-KW solar power project financed by Ho Chi Minh City and implemented by Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, the 30-MW Phuong Mai 1 wind power project and the 21-MW Phuong Mai 3 project. The growing number of wind-to-power projects in Vietnam reflects concerns of the Government as well as investors in this valuable source of energy. Nevertheless, in the past 10 years, we only exploited only 9 MW out of 713,000 MW of wind power capacity, according to statistics. The result is too modest in relation to potentiality. We are wasting a great resource.

Mr Nguyen Van Ban said, to prop up the wind power potentiality, the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, investors, scientists and managers have made great efforts. Specifically, the ministry hired foreign consultants to implement the “Building the legal framework and technical support for wind power connected with the grid in Vietnam in the 2009 – 2011 period” project. This project will help carry out several programmes like building a legal framework for grid-connected wind power and wind power planning process, programmes to promote the progress of wind power science, and wind power consulting in Vietnam.

In addition, the ministry also organised many domestic and international conferences to discuss contents for the project before submitting to the Government for approval. But these efforts are not enough because our country has not had the policy framework and the official wind power price framework. Additionally, many islands lack supports for wind power development, including strategically important ones like Truong Sa, Phu Quoc, Bach Long Vi, Cu Lao Cham, Cu Lao Xanh, Phu Quy and Con Dao.

Look out the world, wind power electricity has been a major trend, given the growth of 29 % a year in the 2000 – 2010 period – the highest compared to other energy sources. Unlike nuclear power which requires extremely strict technical and supervisory processes, the construction and installation of wind mills are not very complex. More importantly, wind mills do not harm the surroundings and human beings. With our advantages and potentialities, Vietnam can make wind power a key economic sector. – VCCI

Tags: Vietnam energy, Vietnam wind power project