On 25 June 2020, under Dispatch No.795/TTg-CN, the Prime Minister announced list of wind power projects and grids to be considered for inclusion in the national electricity development planning. The list entails name, location, capacity, connection plans and conditions to release capacity of each project.
The list focuses on 5 regions, of which the Southwest area (including Bac Lieu, Ben Tre, Soc Trang provinces) has the highest number of projects – 3166.8 MW waiting to be included in the power master plan. Follow up is the Central Highlands (Gia Lai, Dak Lak, Dac Nong provinces) with 2432 MW. Next is the North Central region with 941.2 MW of wind projects concentrated mostly in Quang Tri province waiting to be included in the national power development planning.
All wind power projects in the South Central region are located in Ninh Thuan province. The South East region has only 1 project to be considered for inclusion – the Cong Ly Ba Ria Vung Tau project.
Dispatch 795 is expected to serve as a basis for the supervision of investment/construction process of wind power projects, so that these projects can quickly go into operation, supplement the electricity supply for the country and combat electricity shortage. Having a clear, official list of projects to be included in the master plan also helps to combat bribery/corruption among developers and relevant authorities – the latter enables low quality projects to be connected to the national grid thus subsequently damage the infrastructure of the distribution system and create financial loss for the buyer and consumers.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade is responsible for making sure wind power projects and power grids connected to the national electricity system to be appraised in accordance with laws and can contribute to common economic efficiency. The Ministry must also ensure there will be no overload of power grid when putting these projects into operation.
For names and more information of the wind power projects to be considered for inclusion in the electricity development planning, please do not hesitate to contact the author Dr. Oliver Massmann under [email protected].
Dr. Oliver Massmann is the General Director of Duane Morris Vietnam LLC and the only foreign lawyer presenting in Vietnamese language to members of the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF VIETNAM.
