Vietnamese Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh has allowed the Vietnam Development Bank to sign a letter of commitment on borrowing $1 billion from the U.S.’s Export-Import Bank for wind energy development in the Mekong Delta region between 2011 and 2015. Some coastal provinces in Mekong Delta such as Bac Lieu, Soc Trang and Kien Giang have huge potential for harnessing wind energy, the Vietnamese government said on its website. As of Feb, as many as 21 wind energy projects with a combined capacity of 2,000 MW have been carried out in Vietnam, mainly in the central provinces of Binh Thuan, Ninh Thuan, Ninh Dinh and the central highlands province of Lam Dong. Recently, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung signed Decision 37/2011/QD-TTg detailing preferential mechanisms in credit, tax payment and site clearance for wind energy development. Under the national electricity development plan between 2011 and 2020 with a vision to 2030 (or Plan VII), the country aims to increase the percentage of renewable energies from current 3.5% of the country’s total electricity output to 4.5% by 2020 and 6% by 2030. (chinhphu.vn Oct 17)
