VietNam Business: energy

Showing posts with label energy. Show all posts

Saturday, February 12, 2011

GE opens wind-turbine plant

Aerial view of GE manufacturing facility in Nomura Industrial Zone in Hai Phong. — VNS Photo

HAI PHONG — In response to growing global demand for clean energy, General Electric officially inaugurated its first manufacturing facility in the northern port city of Hai Phong yesterday.

The factory, which has a total investment of more than US$61 million, will manufacture wind turbine components. Parts will be shipped to GE wind turbine manufacturing factories worldwide.

The plant occupies a 8.4ha in Nomura-Hai Phong Industrial Zone and has a designed capacity of 1,500 products per year. It expected to generate 400 jobs.

Initially, the facility will produce generators for 1.5MW wind turbines.

John Krenicki, GE vice chairman and CEO of GE Energy, said: "Viet Nam is an ideal place for GE to invest and expand our manufacturing capability because it has a skilled work force and a bright future in its energy sector."

"With demand for electricity, fuel, and water continuing to rise around the world we believe that building in Viet Nam is a great investment," he added.

Over the past few years, GE has invested in a number of activities in Viet Nam, ranging from clean energy and health care to aviation.

Tran Tuan Anh, deputy minister of Industry and Trade, said he hoped GE would expand its production base in Hai Phong to include other wind turbine components.

"Wind power is a completely new sector in Viet Nam. Demand is increasing and fossil energy resources are exhausted. Thus, recycled energy development will play an important role in ensuring national energy security," he said.

GE and the Ministry of Industry and Trade signed a strategic partnership agreement on Thursday in Ha Noi.

GE will continue investing in the hi-tech clean energy sector in the country, focusing on the manufacture of gas turbines and development of support industries, the deputy minister said.

GE launched in Viet Nam in 1993, one of the very first American companies to do so after the US lifted its trade embargo.

The company later set up a representative office in HCM City in 2001. In 2003, GE established the 100 per cent foreign-invested GE Viet Nam Co Ltd in Viet Nam.

GE is a global infrastructure, finance and media company, operating in the energy, water, transportation, health, oil and gas, finance and information sectors. It reaped a revenue of $40 billion last year. — VNS

Thursday, February 10, 2011

First wind energy turbine factory opens

Vietnam ’s first wind power turbine production factory was
inaugurated at the Nomura industrial zone in the northern port city of
Hai Phong on October 15.

The 61 million USD project, invested by the US-based GE group, rolled
out over 200 turbines for export in the past five months of test run.

In the first stage the factory will produce 1.5 MW turbines for
export and is scheduled to mass produce some 10,000 parts and assorted
turbines annually. Its products will be forwarded to GE production
facilities worldwide to be assembled into end products.

The factory now provides stable jobs for over 250 local workers and
contributes to domestic production and daily life as well as for export.

John Krenicki, Vice President of the GE Group and
President cum General Manager of GE Energy operations in Vietnam ,
hailed Vietnam as an ideal destination for investment and expansion
of production capacity thanks to its skilled workforce and the bright
prospects of the regional energy industry.

The
US giant unveiled a plan to upgrade and expand the factory into a
complex specialising in power equipment for clean energy production to
meet national and global demand./.

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

South Korea unveils huge clean energy investment plan

Photo: Reuters

SEOUL - South Korea Wednesday unveiled a five-year plan to spend US$36 billion developing renewable energy as its next economic growth engine.

The plan, approved at a meeting chaired by President Lee Myung-Bak, aims to transform South Korea into one of the world's five top players in renewable energy.

South Korea will spend about 40 trillion won -- seven trillion won in state money and 33 trillion won from private businesses -- on new renewable energy projects by 2015, the Ministry of Knowledge Economy said.

It hopes to export renewable energy worth 36.2 billion dollars in 2015.

The ministry predicts the global market for renewable energy will grow rapidly from 162 billion dollars last year to an estimated 400 billion dollars in 2015.

Asia's fourth largest economy, which imports almost all its oil, has tried to cut dependence on fossil fuels and diversify energy sources.

In addition to the 40 trillion won, the ministry said the government will spend nine trillion won to build an offshore wind farm in the Yellow Sea by 2019, generating 2.5 gigawatts per hour of electricity.

S.Korea unveils huge clean energy investment plan

Photo: Reuters

SEOUL - South Korea Wednesday unveiled a five-year plan to spend US$36 billion developing renewable energy as its next economic growth engine.

The plan, approved at a meeting chaired by President Lee Myung-Bak, aims to transform South Korea into one of the world's five top players in renewable energy.

It hopes to export renewable energy worth 36.2 billion dollars in 2015.

The ministry predicts the global market for renewable energy will grow rapidly from 162 billion dollars last year to an estimated 400 billion dollars in 2015.

Asia's fourth largest economy, which imports almost all its oil, has tried to cut dependence on fossil fuels and diversify energy sources.

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Industry sector seeks energy-saving solutions

The industry sector is banking on an international exposition opened in Ho Chi Minh City to gain know-how on energy savings strategies from 250 exhibiting companies representing 30 countries and territories.

For example, exhibitor Company 21 Power Corp was committed to providing energy management solutions for stable and sustainable supply of electricity.

Tech United Pte Ltd. offers lighting energy-saving solutions, LED, and quality designs. CE Globaltest Pte Ltd. showcases electric and electronic measuring and testing equipment which is highly efficient and friendly to the environment.

As part of the event, a workshop on “Sustainable and competitive solutions for a developing economy” will be held.

The workshop aims to provide industrial experts and managers with clean and efficient solutions to improve construction quality and energy efficiency. Its contents are expected to update audiences on recent rapid changes in the industry sector and provide a forecast on the development of innovative solutions in the future.

Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hoang Van Dung said the exhibition would provide opportunities for domestic and international enterprises to boost cooperation and business.

Daniel Cheung, Director of the Hong Kong Exhibition Service Company, pointed out a need for Vietnam to develop a sustainable power source and address issues related to an environment appealing to foreign investment in energy projects.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Industry sector seeks energy-saving solutions

The industry sector is banking on an international exposition opened in
Ho Chi Minh City on September 15 to gain know-how on energy savings
strategies from 250 exhibiting companies representing 30 countries and
territories.

For example, exhibitor Company 21
Power Corp was committed to providing energy management solutions for
stable and sustainable supply of electricity. Tech United Pte Ltd.
offers lighting energy-saving solutions, LED, and quality designs. CE
Globaltest Pte Ltd. showcases electric and electronic measuring and
testing equipment which is highly efficient and friendly to the
environment.

As part of the event, a workshop on
“Sustainable and competitive solutions for a developing economy” will be
held. The workshop aims to provide industrial experts and managers with
clean and efficient solutions to improve construction quality and
energy efficiency. Its contents are expected to update audiences on
recent rapid changes in the industry sector and provide a forecast on
the development of innovative solutions in the future.

Vice President of the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry Hoang
Van Dung said the exhibition would provide opportunities for domestic
and international enterprises to boost cooperation and business.

Daniel Cheung, Director of the Hong Kong Exhibition Service Company,
pointed out a need for Vietnam to develop a sustainable power source
and address issues related to an environment appealing to foreign
investment in energy projects./.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Vietnam’s growth faces unclean energy threat: Finnish minister

Vietnam’s growth faces unclean energy threat: Finnish minister Vietnam’s economy will face a serious sustainable development challenge if it does not adopt clean and efficient energy practices, Finnish labor minister Anni Sinnemäki said early this week.

Sinnemäki, who was leading a Finnish business delegation on a visit to Vietnam this week, said Vietnam, as one of ten countries where climate change would have the most serious impacts, should consider alternatives as it develops.

“I am very impressed with the economic growth here in Vietnam but worried for people who have suffered the impact of climate change,” the minister said in a meeting of Vietnamese and Finnish businesses, also attended by her Vietnamese counterpart Nguyen Thi Kim Ngan.

Production and consumption have increased around the globe while the “biocapacity” of the planet has decreased, creating an ecological and environmental imbalance on earth, she said.

Climate change was a challenge not for Vietnam and its government but for the entire world and all the governments, said the minister.

Sinnemäki said the Vietnamese government’s policy to support and encourage local businesses to achieve energy efficiency in production was a good measure to fight climate change.

Vietnamese labor minister Ngan said Vietnam was on the recovery road after the global crisis and needed modern and energy efficient technologies to develop sustainably.

She said the use of old technologies in production was a trend in the country that it had a bearing on climate change.

The Vietnamese government has asked local businesses to choose clean and energy efficient solutions, and called on foreign investors to introduce and transfer modern technologies to Vietnam, Ngan said.

Sinnemäki said Finland has been one of the world’s leading countries in developing clean and energy efficient technologies for decades and would share this with local businesses.

Santtu Hulkkonen, executive director of Cleantech Finland, said Finnish businesses considered Vietnam a potential market and some companies like Kemira have been present here for years, seeking new opportunities.

Cleantech Finland is a collective of 2,000 firms that specialize in many areas including energy efficiency, clean industrial processes, renewable energy, waste management and wastewater treatment.

The group said in a statement that Vietnam has a large demand for wastewater treatment and environmentally friendly energy sources.

Emissions from fossil fuel combustion and wastewater released by industrial processes have damaged the environment and affected people’s lives, the group said.

Hulkkonen told Thanh Nien Weekly Finnish firms were at present involved in ten projects, worth about 100 million euros, that deal with transferring clean and energy efficient technologies to Vietnam. About 13 to 20 other projects worth 40 to 50 million euros were about to be implemented, he said.