Vietnam Plans More Wind Power Stations

 

Vietnam now has to import electricity from China and Laos, with the volume expected to rise. Not only that, in the next 20 - 30 years, Vietnam’s oil and gas reserves will run out. Besides, after 2012, the country will have to import coal and become an energy importer from 2020. At the same time, the monopoly of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) results in an insufficient private presence in the energy sector. This may lead to energy shortages, unimproved infrastructure, and inadequate investment for new energy projects.

 

A solution has been proposed to quickly boost electricity production to meet demand: Building wind-to-power stations. Of course, wind is an invisible form of energy and its movement is highly irregular; thus, investment in this field requires highly reliable statistics. But, investment costs for wind power are surely lower than those for hydropower. A total cost for a 4,800 KW wind-to-power station is some 3 million euro. 500 4,800-KW wind power stations will have a combined capacity of 2.4 million KW and cost 1.5 billion euro (US$1.875 billion), lower than over US$2.4 billion for the country’s largest Son La hydropower plant.

 

The Ministry of Industry and Trade submitted to the Government the master plan for energy development, where renewable energy will account for 5 percent of total power capacity by 2020. Vietnam also expects to have the first nuclear power plant in 2020 and the national electric sources will meet 80 percent of demand. With such long strides, wind power will be a significant energy source for national development.