Vietnamese Updates: Wind energy in Vietnam (16 Jan 2013)

Wind energy in Vietnam Thứ tư, ngày 16 tháng 01 năm 2013 cập nhật lúc 13:19

Currently, the world is facing an energy crisis and increasing environmental pollution. Thus,  in the early 1980s of the 20th century, the wind farms began to be designed, built and for more than last 30 years, wind power has made remarkable progress in many countries.

 Vietnam is the country that has both great potential of wind energy and a favorable geographical position for the exploitation and development of wind energy, which enables Vietnam to be fully qualified for energy development.

Located in a subtropical monsoon climate with a long coastline, Vietnam has a favorable condition for the development of wind energy. According to the research by the World Bank, in the territory of Vietnam, two regions that are most potential for wind energy development are Son Hai (Ninh Thuan) and the sand hills at a height of 60 - 100 meters from the Western Ham Tien to  Mui Ne in Binh Thuan. In this region, the average wind velocity is strong, moreover, there are few storms  and the wind tends to be stable. During the monsoon months, the rate of the south and southeast wind reach up to 98% with an average speed of  6 - 7m/ second, which means that the speed can build a wind power station with a capacity of 3 - 3.5 MW2.

Vietnam's total wind power potential estimates at 513,360 MW, which is more than 200 times the capacity of the Son La hydroelectric power and more than 10 times the total capacity of the hydropower industry forecasts in 2020. According to the criteria for the construction of small wind power stations for economic development in disadvantaged areas, Vietnam has up to 41% of rural areas where small wind power can be developed

From the coastal to the inland areas, the wind energy can be captured thanks to flexible solutions. Wind power stations located in coastal areas often produce higher yields than that of those located in inland areas because the wind is very strong in coastal areas .

In addition to the planning and policies related to the development of renewable energy, the government of Vietnam issued Decision No. 37/QD-TTg dated June 29, 2011 on the mechanism supporting the development of wind power projects in Vietnam. This decision also regulates that wind power projects are exempt from import tax for imported goods to form fixed assets of the projects. Imported goods are raw materials, materials, and semi-finished products which can not be produced domestically. Corporate income tax rate as well as the exemption or reduction of corporate income tax for wind power projects is applied as for projects in the field of special investment incentives.

The government also set up wind power development goals through Decision 1208/QD-TTg issued by  Prime Minister dated on July 21, 2011 approving of the national electricity development plan in the period 2011 - 2020, vision to 2030 that reach approximately 1,000 MW (equivalent to about 0.7% of total power capacity) in 2020, and about 6.200MW (about 2.4% of total power capacity) in 2030.

                                                                    Lê Mai

Source: 
http://www.monre.gov.vn/v35/default.aspx?tabid=675&CateID=58&ID=124648&Code=IYFR124648