Realize the wind power "dream": No difficulties, no discoveries?

Currently, the number of wind power projects put into use is quite small compared with the total investment projects. Source: Internet.

New 7 projects put into use

According to the adjusted plan for national electricity development in the 2011-2020 period with a vision to 2030 (referred to as adjusted Electricity Regulation VII) approved by the Prime Minister on March 18, the goal is to bring total wind power capacity from 140 MW (2016) to around 800 MW by 2020, about 2,000 MW by 2025 and about 6,000 MW by 2030. In addition, wind power will account for about 0.8% by 2020, about 1% by 2025 and about 2.1% by 2030.

Mr. Nguyen Van Thanh, Deputy Director General of the Electricity and Renewable Energy Department (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said that the Government of Vietnam has issued priority policies and incentives to encourage renewable energy sources, especially towards the use of wind energy, solar power and biomass to replace fossil fuels in the future. These mechanisms help the development of wind power in Vietnam to flourish, but it is still slow. Up to now, only 7 wind power projects with total capacity of 190 MW have been put into use. Meanwhile, countries around the world have developed and successfully utilized the benefits of wind power. Most recently, China and India are also making strong progress in this area and have achieved unexpected results.

In relation to the wind power story, the German International Cooperation Agency (GIZ) Nguyen The Mich, a consultant on wind energy, said: Vietnam currently has about 60-70 wind power projects with total capacity of about 700 MW, but it is worth noting that the number of projects being implemented in practice is quite limited. There are new projects at the pre-feasibility study stage, which have started the next steps but still waiting, pending appropriate policies...

Is there a clear development plan, why is wind power in Vietnam so slow? This delay, according to Mr. Thanh, is because there are still many barriers to wind power development. These are: Difficulties in terms of land use, capital, capacity connection, and limited access to new and effective technology, backup power.

"Wind power prices are not attractive enough for investors. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is working to develop a more harmonious wind tariff in the coming time to ensure fairness between renewable energy sources and current technology in the world," Mr. Thanh said.

Need policy to attract resources

Expert Nguyen The Mi said that to really develop wind power, the key is that the State must put forward a policy to mobilize the resources for investment in this field. At the right price, the ability to invest in wind power will explode.

Mr. Steve Sawyer, Secretary General of the Global Wind Power Association (GWEC), said that Vietnam should make further efforts to improve the efficiency and transparency of market regulations as well as the bidding process. If GWEC can cooperate with the Government of Vietnam to resolve a number of regulatory issues, the wind power sector in Vietnam will be able to grow strongly, bring significant benefits, and help Vietnam to become an attractive destination for international investors. Some experts recommend that, in order for investors to be more salient in deploying wind power projects, Vietnam needs to continue to standardize electricity purchase contracts for wind power projects, be accepted by the international financial institutions; the process of project approval should be simplified, clear, transparent and time-bound... This is to reduce uncertainty and increase the confidence of the market as well as investors.

Around the story of wind power development, the leading expert on wind power Pham Phu Uynh noted: The development of new energy sources, especially clean and renewable energy sources such as wind energy, mostly depends on the development of technology as well as the price of such energy sources. In recent years, Vietnam has invested a lot in the exploitation and use of wind energy, but the technology still has to buy, and the price is very high compared to the two types of traditional energy, hydropower and thermal power. Vietnam should focus more on the development of exploitation and use of renewable energy in general, and wind power in particular, through focusing on technology development and human resources in the country.

"Another thing is that Vietnam has different weather conditions compared to other European countries where the wind power industry has developed. Many sea areas of the country, with the appearance of storms the wind is blowing unstably, causing wind turbines to easily break down, malfunction during operation. The technology of your country can be good in your country, but if you bring the same technology to apply in our country it really is not good,” expert Pham Phu Uynh said.