HBRE Wind Power Company Ltd. (HBRE) will invest in a wind farm project in the Central Highlands province of Daklak with technology and equipment supplied by GE.

GE said in a statement on Sept 24 that it has clinched a memorandum of understanding with HBRE for cooperation in developing the wind farm using GE technology to generate economic and renewable energy in the country.

Under the agreement, GE will help HBRE conduct wind engineering analyses, analyze site layout, and assess constructability. The U.S. company will also provide wind turbine generators as well as aid HBRE in electrical design concepts and financial arrangements.

GE will provide long-term maintenance of the wind turbines and other services for the project whose preparations are now underway as part of the agreement.

HBRE is responsible for the design, construction and operation of the wind farm in Ea H’Leo District, Daklak Province, with an average wind speed of 7.6 meters per second.

Nguyen My Lan, chief executive officer of GE Vietnam & Cambodia, said in the statement that the cooperation with HBRE on the wind farm project builds from the company’s accomplishment of providing 52 wind turbines to the Bac Lieu wind power plant last December.

“This is a clear demonstration of our continuous commitment to support the development of the local community as well as to contribute to the development of renewable energy in Vietnam,” Lan said.

Ho Ta Tin, chairman of HBRE, did not mention information about investment capital and other details of the project, but said the wind farm project will contribute to the improvement of social and economic conditions in Daklak by creating hundreds of jobs that require technical and industrial skills, while contributing additional power to the national grid.

Tin expected the project will help attract more investments to Daklak and help boost wind power development in the region and in Vietnam.

GE said it has 16 megawatts of installed wind energy capacity in Vietnam.

GE provides technology support for various power generation projects in Vietnam. With an installed capacity of more than 2,000 megawatts in the country, GE equipment today supplies approximately 10% of the country’s power.

GE opened a factory to support its wind division in the northern port city of Haiphong in 2009. Last year, the company increased its total investments in the factory to US$110 million from an initial US$50 million to expand its production capacity to meet global demand. The manufacturing facility has exported thousands of wind turbine generators and other energy equipment to GE’s manufacturing and service centers worldwide.

Currently, three operational wind farms in Vietnam are the first phase of Binh Thanh project with a generation output of 30 MW invested by Vietnam Renewable Energy One Member Company Limited in Binh Thuan Province, a 6-MW project invested by PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) on Phu Quy Island off mainland Binh Thuan Province and the first phase of Bac Lieu project with output of 16 MW, developed by Cong Ly Construction-Trade-Tourism Ltd. in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu.

Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) now pays 7.8 U.S. cents per kWh generated by onshore wind farms and 9.8 U.S. cents per kWh by offshore projects.

Total output of all operational wind power projects is only 52 MW but will increase sharply in the years to come.

The Government has approved a national zoning plan for renewable energy development with an aim to develop 1,000 MW of wind power by 2020 and scale it up to 6,200 MW by 2030.

Besides the three operational wind farms, investors have registered to implement 45 other projects with combined generation output of 4,822 MW, according to the General Department of Energy under the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

Source: SGT/VNN