Under Plan 8, Vietnam would have 6,000MW of offshore wind power by 2030. 

Mark Hutchinson, Director of the Southeast Asia Task Force of the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), said in an interview to VietnamNet, that the government needs to create policies about the field as soon as possible.

In general, it takes six to eight years to design offshore wind power projects, build and complete projects, and the goal of having the first offshore wind power plants becoming operational by 2030 is becoming challenging if no legal framework exists.

It takes at least two to three years to build such a legal framework and Vietnam may need to enact a new law. In addition, close cooperation among competent agencies will play an important role in offshore wind power development.

According to Hutchison, there are five majorproblems. 

First, maritime spatial planning and the decree on water allocation play an important role in identifying suitable places for offshore wind power projects. If there is no clear guidance from maritime spatial planning, project developers won’t be able to determine the places for projects. 

So, they won’t be able to carry out field work on wind conditions, environmental conditions and other necessary surveys, which takes two years to be completed. 

Second, inter-ministerial cooperation is a prerequisite to ensure the smooth development of offshore wind power projects, and consistency among ministries and branches involved in offshore wind power development.

Third, piloting offshore wind power projects is important in order to prove the feasibility and effectiveness of this renewable energy type in Vietnamese conditions.

Fourth, reasonable PPA (power purchase agreement) mechanism is needed to ensure transparency and certainty for both investors and credit institutions.

A clear PPA will ensure a long-term source of revenue for projects and help minimize risks for investors. It will also be an important factor for international financial institutions to decide whether to fund wind projects.

Fifth, the design of an effective auction mechanism will be necessary to promote healthy competition among developers. This will encourage investments in the field and speed up implementation of projects.

GWEC and other institutions have suggested a rapid development policy, or a pilot mechanism to be applied to the first projects in Vietnam. The government, and international and domestic developers have shown their support for the pilot. However,  no clear policies for the pilot period exist.

Luong Bang