On October 8, the People's Committee of Vinh Long province organized a workshop on Sustainable Energy in the Mekong Delta - Breakthrough in developing a green economy and a circular economy.
At the workshop, delegates said that the Mekong Delta region, especially Vinh Long province (after merging with Ben Tre and Tra Vinh), possesses many outstanding advantages in developing renewable energy.
This area is considered the "west wind power capital" of the country, with the potential to exploit about 3,900 MW of offshore and near-shore wind power by 2030, along with nearly 1,000 MW of offshore wind power, opening up a great opportunity to become a national wind energy center in the coming time.
According to the revised VIII Power Plan, Vietnam aims to achieve 27 GW of national wind power by 2030, of which offshore wind power plays a key role in the goal of reducing net emissions by 10:0 by 2050.
However, the biggest challenge at present is that the transmission grid system is seriously overloaded, affecting investment efficiency and capacity release.
In the old Ben Tre area, the 110kV power grid has experienced local overload. It is forecasted that when transition wind power projects (about 255.8 MW) come into operation by the end of 2025 - early 2026, some power lines may be overloaded by 205%.
Many investors such as REE have reflected major difficulties in transmission infrastructure and site clearance for new power line projects.
Faced with that reality, experts and delegates at the workshop "Renewable energy in the Mekong Delta - Breakthrough in developing a green economy, circular economy" recommended that there should soon be a breakthrough policy mechanism to remove difficulties.
In particular, it is proposed to shorten the time for handling administrative procedures, up to a maximum of 3 days to collect opinions from departments and branches; issue a stable and transparent electricity price mechanism, extend the power purchase and sale contract (PPA) to 25 years, and have a Government guarantee to attract international capital.
Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Nguyen Quynh Thien - Vice Chairman of Vinh Long Provincial People's Committee said that the Mekong Delta has great potential for developing renewable energy, especially wind power, contributing to promoting green growth and sustainable economy.
Mr. Thien emphasized that to promote potential efficiency, it is necessary to soon remove bottlenecks in transport infrastructure, perfect policy mechanisms and encourage businesses to invest in large-scale renewable energy projects in the Mekong Delta.
"The Department of Industry and Trade shall preside over coordinating with localities to review power planning, propose upgrading the transmission grid, ensure the ability to release capacity of renewable energy projects; at the same time, support businesses in removing investment procedures, creating conditions to speed up the implementation of projects in the area," Mr. Thien emphasized this content.
