Industrial development becomes the economic pillar of Binh Thuan. Part 2

The potential and advantages of Binh Thuan industry cannot be ignored without mentioning offshore wind power - a field that is attracting great attention from domestic and foreign investors. When combined with other types of renewable energy to produce new energy (hydrogen, green ammonia, etc.) to serve domestic and export needs, it will bring high economic efficiency. At the same time, it also contributes to realizing Vietnam's commitment to achieving net zero emissions by 2050.

Field of many advantages

With the advantage of possessing a 192 km long coastline and an inland sea area of about 20,200 ^km2, Binh Thuan is a favorable condition for the development of the marine economy, including the offshore wind power sector. In addition, Binh Thuan is also considered a locality with the highest wind energy potential in the country. Specifically: The average wind speed onshore here is 6.8 m/s, while the average wind speed on the sea is about 8 - 14 m/s and is often stable, so it is very suitable for investment in wind power development both onshore and offshore... Particularly with offshore wind power, Binh Thuan is currently creating great attraction and is attracting the attention of investors everywhere as well as the desire to implement projects in this field. Recently, many investors have registered and proposed to implement offshore wind power projects and the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have agreed in principle to allow an organization to conduct research and surveys to develop the project in the sea area of Binh Thuan province...

Binh Thuan has many advantages to develop offshore wind power (Illustration photo).

In mid-May, the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 500 approving the National Power Development Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050 (referred to as Power Plan VIII). To implement Power Plan VIII, the Prime Minister also issued an official dispatch assigning the Ministry of Industry and Trade to develop an implementation plan according to regulations, reporting to the Prime Minister for promulgation in 2023... It is known that Power Plan VIII will be the initial legal basis, very important to orient the development of power source - grid projects until 2030, with a vision to 2050 nationwide in general and Binh Thuan in particular. Accordingly, Power Plan VIII also determines that by 2030, the offshore wind power capacity serving the electricity demand of the whole country will reach about 6,000 MW. However, at this stage, the scale can be increased further in case of rapid technology development, reasonable electricity prices and transmission costs, and the orientation by 2050 is to reach capacity of 70,000 - 91,500 MW.

Along with that, the Power Plan VIII has oriented to strongly develop offshore wind power combined with other types of renewable energy such as solar power, onshore wind power... to produce new energy (hydrogen, green ammonia...) to serve domestic demand and export. It is estimated that the capacity of offshore wind power to produce new energy by 2035 will be about 15,000 MW and by 2050 will reach about 240,000 MW...

Scientific workshop on offshore wind power development prospects in Binh Thuan takes place at the end of August 2023.

Open up new opportunities

Regarding this issue, the Scientific Workshop with the theme "Binh Thuan: Prospects for offshore wind power development to promote the marine economy" also took place in Phan Thiet City at the end of August 2023. This event was organized by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment of Binh Thuan, the Provincial Union of Science and Technology Associations in coordination with Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) Group of Denmark. Attending and speaking at the workshop, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Phan Van Dang said that the locality's viewpoint is very supportive of large investors with financial capacity and experience to invest in offshore wind power in Binh Thuan. In addition, local leaders also committed to creating the most favorable environment for investors in the process of implementing offshore wind power projects here... On this occasion, CIP Group and Dai Dung Group signed a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in developing the construction and fabrication of monopile foundations and steel structures for offshore wind power projects in Vietnam.

The comments and experiences shared at the workshop showed that the development of offshore wind power can bring many benefits to the community as well as harmoniously develop fishing activities, develop tourism and preserve ecosystems if high international standards are applied... According to Mr. Stuart Livesey - Representative of CIP Group in Vietnam and General Director of La Gan Offshore Wind Power Project (La Gan Wind), Binh Thuan is one of the areas with the best wind potential in the country. This place also has ideal seabed conditions for installing fixed wind turbine foundations, and has the potential to develop large-scale seaports and power grids to serve wind energy exploitation. The implementation of offshore wind power projects promises to create high-quality job opportunities for workers, and on the other hand, will bring opportunities to transfer advanced technologies and develop supply chains to help the offshore wind power industry in Vietnam develop more and more... Through research, it is known that the La Gan offshore wind power project registered for investment in Binh Thuan has a capacity of up to 3.5 GW (equivalent to 3,500 MW), with a total investment of about 10.5 billion USD and is expected to be a potential project in the Power Plan VIII.

Discussing offshore wind power, Mr. Vo Van Hoa - Director of Binh Thuan Department of Industry and Trade said that this field has specific requirements from the stages of survey, design, manufacturing, installation to operation, maintenance, connection to the national power transmission line system... very different from onshore wind power and even more different from other forms of renewable energy. For sustainable development, in addition to support policies and breakthrough mechanisms for offshore wind power, the locality is very interested in technology transfer, attracting large projects to invest in developing supporting industries. Thereby, quickly developing as well as gradually increasing the proportion of localization of technical equipment, especially high-tech equipment, power technology... to contribute to bringing the highest efficiency.

Thus, in the coming period, offshore wind power will open up new opportunities for the locality to promote and call for investment projects to effectively exploit potential, while making a commensurate contribution to industrial development to become an economic pillar of Binh Thuan as the target of Resolution 09 of the Executive Committee of the Binh Thuan Provincial Party Committee (term XIV) has set out.

At the 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) in 2021, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh made important commitments and Vietnam's strong determination to achieve net zero emissions by 2050... Responding to and implementing the Prime Minister's commitment, the locality has updated the action plan to respond to climate change in Binh Thuan province for the period 2021 - 2030, with a vision to 2050 accordingly. In which, the priority orientation for offshore wind power development is the most important and effective solution...

Lesson 1: Positive change

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