GIZ, USAID Build Manual Guiding Investment in Wind Power in Vietnam

German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) have cooperated to build manual guiding the investment in wind power in Vietnam in the context that the country is encouraging finance in renewable energy. This is part of the EUR6.9-million project to support the development of wind power in Vietnam launched since 2014 by the government of Germany. The two-set document focusing on project development and project finance will provide valuable information for those who eye and invest in wind farms in Vietnam, the online Thoi Bao Kinh Te Sai Gon newspaper reported, citing experts at a conference on Sept 29. The manual, which shows insights into Vietnam’s wind power sector, is expected to make steps for the investment more well-prepared and procedures more transparent. Vietnam, with the ratio of wind power accounting for 5.4% of the total capacity of 39,000 megawatts, outlines to raise the rate to 21% by 2030 with 6,000 MW by the year. Peter Cattelaens, project manager for Up-Scaling of Wind Power in Vietnam conducted by GIZ and the Vietnamese Ministry of Industry and Trade, said that the document and support by foreign organizations will help Vietnam achieve its ambitious target for wind power by 2030. But Vietnam needs to remove a number of obstacles hindering the investment in this kind of renewable energy, including incomplete legal system supporting the investors, limited power transmission and distribution capacity, and low selling prices of wind power. Bui Van Thinh, chairman of Vietnam’s Thuan Binh Wind Power Company, said that sublicenses have slowed down the construction of the plants and the process will takes years to come to an end. (Thesaigontimes.vn Sept 29, www.qdnd.vn Sept 29)