Ministry completes draft decision on wind-power prices

Two men work on a power line in HCMC in a file photo. Wind power is now supplied to the national grid but regulations on wind power selling prices are not yet out - Photo: TL

HCMC – The Ministry of Industry and Trade has finished a draft decision on selling prices of wind power, which an official said is expected to create a much-needed framework for developing wind power in the country.  

Le Tan Phong, deputy director of the ministry’s Department of Energy, told the Daily on Tuesday that the decision would likely be submitted to the Government within this week for final approval.

He declined to elaborate on the draft decision, but another official said the selling price would likely be raised to 8 U.S. cents a kWh compared to the current 5.5 cents. That will be a strong boon for investors engaging in wind-power projects, said Ho Son Hung, deputy director of the Department of Industry and Trade of Binh Thuan Province, where several wind-power projects are being planned.

Hung said that according to the latest suggestions by the province for the drafted decision, “the selling price of wind power could be set at about 8 U.S cents per kilowatt hour, with a subsidy from the State.

“This price would be encouraging enough for investors to spend their money to develop more wind power projects in the coming time.”

He also noted that many wind power investors have grown impatient in recent years due to the absence of a concrete decision on the selling price of the wind power.

By this time, Binh Thuan authorities have approved a total of 12 projects of wind power development. One such project located in Binh Thuan’s Tuy Phong District has lately generated power to the national grid, although the selling price has not been settled between the investor and Electricity of Vietnam Group, or EVN.

Tran Viet Ngai, chairman of the Vietnam Energy Association told the Daily early this week that the Government should have more preferential policies for the development of wind and solar power. Particularly, investors of renewable energy have repeatedly asked for higher selling prices of power generated from wind and solar sources.

Referring to the above-mentioned wind power project in Binh Thuan, Ngai said, the 7.5MW plant was already supplying power to the national grid, the wide gap remained between the developer and EVN.

“That is because the investor wanted to sell power at 11 U.S. cents per kWh while EVN wanted it to be only 5.5 cents,” said the chairman of the association.

Experts said the country has huge potential to develop as much as 5,000MW of wind power.

Related Articles

• High rice price cuts exports
• ASEAN parliamentarians tackle broad agenda
• Mini-condos attract investor attention
• Energy group asks for 50% price hike
• Market moves up sharply

Ninh Thuan okays US$500-mil. wind power project

HCMC – Authorities of the central province of Ninh Thuan have just agreed in principle a project by Trung Nam Investment and Construction Joint Stock Co. to develop a wind power project with total designed capacity of 200MW.

In a document signed last Friday by provincial chairman Nguyen Chi Dung, the project will be carried out on the total area of 900 hectares encompassing two villages of Loi Hai and Bac Phong in Thuan Bac District.

Nguyen Hai Yen, marketing manager of Trung Nam Investment and Construction Joint Stock Co., told the Daily on Monday that the wind power project would require total investment of US$500 million.

In a letter of commitment sent to the provincial government, the company also pledges to carry out another project manufacturing technical equipments to supply local wind power plants once its 200-MW wind power project is completed.

According to recent studies conducted by Trung Nam Company, Ninh Thuan Province has much potential for wind power with the average power velocity of some seven meters per second.     

Vietnam has now attached importance to renewable energy. In its strategic plan for renewable energy development, the country targets renewable energy to account for 5% of the total power output by 2020 and up to 11% by 2050.

The amount of renewable energy currently accounts for some 3%.

According to Vietnam Renewable Energy Center, Vietnam has the potential to generate as much as 100,000MW of wind power, with localities suitable for wind power development mostly located in coastal areas in central provinces such as Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan.

Related Articles

• Ninh Thuan okays US$500-mil. wind power project
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
• Cleared land ready for Formosa steel project this month
• Power projects hit by drought
• Tougher approvals urged on foreign projects

Ninh Thuan okays US$500-mil. wind power project

HCMC – Authorities of the central province of Ninh Thuan have just agreed in principle a project by Trung Nam Investment and Construction Joint Stock Co. to develop a wind power project with total designed capacity of 200MW.

In a document signed last Friday by provincial chairman Nguyen Chi Dung, the project will be carried out on the total area of 900 hectares encompassing two villages of Loi Hai and Bac Phong in Thuan Bac District.

Nguyen Hai Yen, marketing manager of Trung Nam Investment and Construction Joint Stock Co., told the Daily on Monday that the wind power project would require total investment of US$500 million.

In a letter of commitment sent to the provincial government, the company also pledges to carry out another project manufacturing technical equipments to supply local wind power plants once its 200-MW wind power project is completed.

According to recent studies conducted by Trung Nam Company, Ninh Thuan Province has much potential for wind power with the average power velocity of some seven meters per second.     

Vietnam has now attached importance to renewable energy. In its strategic plan for renewable energy development, the country targets renewable energy to account for 5% of the total power output by 2020 and up to 11% by 2050.

The amount of renewable energy currently accounts for some 3%.

According to Vietnam Renewable Energy Center, Vietnam has the potential to generate as much as 100,000MW of wind power, with localities suitable for wind power development mostly located in coastal areas in central provinces such as Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan.

Related Articles

• Ninh Thuan okays US$500-mil. wind power project
• Assoc insists on power price hike despite protests
• Cleared land ready for Formosa steel project this month
• Power projects hit by drought
• Tougher approvals urged on foreign projects

Honda Viet Nam opens new auto showrooms

DONG NAI — Honda Viet Nam Co Ltd and Tuyet Tan Phat Auto Co Ltd opened its third auto centre, Bien Hoa Honda, in the southern Dong Nai Province.

There are now eight auto centres in the country.

Bien Hoa Honda is located at Amata Industrial Park in Bien Hoa City. The centre covers 6,000sq.m. that includes a showroom, services and a warehouse.

Wind power plant to break ground in Bac Lieu

BAC LIEU — Construction of the first wind power plant in Viet Nam's Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta started on September 9 at Binh Dong A hamlet in southern Bac Lieu Province.

The 500-ha wind power plant will have 66 wind turbines that will produce 310 million KWh per year.

Cong Ly Construction-Trade-Tourism Ltd Co is investing VND4.5 trillion into the project. The plant will be finished in the next 36 months.

Jetstar Pacific offers cheap fares on domestic flights

HCM CITY — The low-cost airline Jetstar Pacific is offering 1,000 tickets on the HCM City-Ha Noi-HCM City for VND100,000 each on the occasion of the 1000th anniversary of Thang Long-Ha Noi.

The promotion began on September 9 and will end October 10. Every week, there will be 200 tickets on sale on the website www.jetstar.com on a random day. Customers must register and pay for the ticket with a credit card.

FPT to distribute Siemens production software

HCM CITY — FPT Information System Soft has become the official distributor in Viet Nam for Siemens Teamcentre Product Lifecycle Management Software (PLM), the world's most widely used PLM system.

The Teamcentre software connects people in global-product development and manufacturing organisations with the product and process knowledge they need to succeed.

The software helps enterprises increase productivity, speed up time to market, meet business and regulatory requirements, optimise operational resources, and facilitate global collaboration.

Local advertising creatives to vie for Young Lions title

HCM CITY – Young Vietnamese who work in the advertising and marketing industry will take part in the Viet Nam Young Lions Competition 2011, which is part of an international competition that will end next year.

The Sun Flower company is the official representative in Viet Nam for the Cannes Lions International Festival.

The competition has three categories: print, film and media.

To participate, each team, including two members aged 18-28, must send no more than five print advertisements or television commercials and three submissions on media strategy to the organising committee before October 1. Information is available at www.sunflowermedia.com.vn. — VNS

Related Articles

• Singapore-Vietnam JV opens liver treatment center
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy
• Vinamilk licensed to invest in New Zealand
• Vietnam Air accepts web check-in for int’l flights
• Weightlifter grabs Vietnam’s first Olympic gold at Youth Games

Finland wants to develop clean technologies in Vietnam

Do Duy Phi (L), president and CEO of Vietnam National Chemical Group, with Tomas Forsgard, vice president of Kemira Company from Finland, at the signing of a memorandum of understanding for developing new chemicals to treat industrial wastewater in Vietnam - Photo: Van Nam

HCMC – A delegation representing 15 Finnish enterprises said here on Tuesday they wanted to look for local partners to develop renewable energy, wastewater treatment, industrial waste management and other environmental technologies.

Some of the Finnish companies introduced their clean technologies at a seminar held here on Tuesday were Neste Oil Corporation, Cargotec, GD Power, Kemira, Fincumet, YIT and Outotec.

“We identify Vietnam as a key market in Southeast Asia and want to have direct partners in developing our innovative clean technologies to address Vietnam’s energy and environmental challenges,” said Santtu Hulkkonen, executive director of Cleantech Finland who represented the Finnish delegation.

He told the seminar that the clean-tech sector in Finland included some 2,000 enterprises operating in energy efficiency, clean industrial processes, renewable energy, and waste management and treatment.

Janne Mielck, vice president of the New Ventures of the Neste Oil Corporation, told the Daily on the sidelines of the seminar that his corporation was seeking suppliers from Vietnam for producing environmentally friendly diesel.

Neste Oil is a refining and marketing corporation specializing in low-emission technologies, especially high-quality oil products for vehicles. 

“By the end of this year, we will open a plant producing renewable diesels in Singapore with an annual capacity of 800,000 tons, so we are here to seek partners for supplying raw materials such as vegetable oil and non-edible oil for our plant in Singapore,” said Janne Mielck. He added his company expected to buy some 100,000 tons per year from Vietnam.

Huynh Kim Tuoc, director of the HCMC Energy Conservation Center, told the seminar that “Vietnam targets renewable energy to account for 7% of the total energy  supply by 2020 and up to 11% by 2050 compared to less than 3% now.”

“While the hydropower source as an important renewable energy of the country has been fully tapped, Vietnam should urgently exploit other renewable sources such as wind power, solar power, and other bio-fuels,” he said.

Tuoc added that Finnish enterprises with good technologies could definitely find a lot of opportunities to develop projects of solar energy around the country.

Besides, Tuoc also encouraged Finnish enterprises to invest in wind power projects, including the manufacturing of equipment for wind power plants.

According to the city’s energy conservation center, it has become very urgent for Vietnam to develop renewable energy as power shortage is a big worry for all economic sectors.

Related Articles

• Party reports come in from provinces
• PM foresees bright future for co-operation with Africa
• Panasonic to open science-maths center in Vietnam
• IFC: Vietnam needs to increase PPP to support economy
• Preparations for congress reviewed

Wind power, titanium projects on direct collision course

Wind power in Binh Thuan holds big potential development, but projects in this sector are on a direct collision course with titanium ones - Photo: Khai Nguyen

HCMC, BINH THUAN – Several projects in both wind power and titanium mining sectors in the central province of Binh Thuan have been put on hold as most of the land reserved for wind power overlaps the sites for titanium mining, a provincial official said.

Ho Son Hung, deputy director of the province’s Department of Industry and Trade, told the Daily on Thursday that the provincial government had to date licensed a total of 12 wind power projects covering some 14,000 hectares.

“However, nearly 12,000 hectares of land for the wind power projects is overlapping areas of titanium exploitation with total reserves of some 500 million tons,” he said after a meeting on wind power on Thursday in Binh Thuan.

The twelve licensed wind power projects are Binh Thuan Wind Power 1, Tien Thanh, Phuoc The, Saigon-Binh Thuan, Mien Dong, Thuan Nhien Phong, Binh Thuan, Phu Lac, Van Thanh, HD, WPD, and Vinh Hao.

“This has been an awkward situation for years. We have asked the Government to give a final decision on which areas to be allowed for tapping titanium now and which titanium areas are to be reserved for next generations so that we could continue licensing wind power projects in the coming time,” he said.

“The province will hopefully receive a final decision from the Government in November this year,” he said.

Because of the overlapping situation, the province has decided to stop giving more investment licenses for wind power projects while pending a clearer plan for exploiting titanium reserves.

Hung said he had just heard that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment had completed a scheme pinpointing locations of titanium around the province. Binh Thuan is expecting to have the scheme soon.

In recent years, Binh Thuan Province has been known as an attractive place for investors of both titanium projects and wind power projects. The province is said to have total wind power potentiality of some 3,000 MW to be developed between 2010 and 2020 on a total area of some 75,500 hectares, while titanium reserves in the locality are estimated at half a billion tons.

The province on Thursday organized a seminar on wind power development with the participation of many domestic and international energy experts.

Many experts agreed that Binh Thuan’s wind power potentiality will be effectively tapped if the power generated from wind is sold at a better price to ensure profits for investors.

Related Articles

• Infrastructure projects need climate change upgrade
• Golf courses probed for environmental effects
• State enterprises to focus on major business fields
• Developers unhappy over new fees
• Highrise building ban casts pall over apartment market