Consortium of Zarubezhneft JSC and DEME Concessions Wind NV look forward to soon deployment of Vinh Phong Offshore Wind Power Project
Consortium of Zarubezhneft JSC and DEME Concessions Wind NV look forward to soon deployment of Vinh Phong Offshore Wind Power Project
In order to exploit the potential and advantages of offshore wind power in Vietnam, in April 2021, the Investment Consortium of Zarubezhneft JSC (Russia) and DEME Concessions Wind NV (Belgium) and their subsidiaries Vietsovpetro Company and DEME Offshore Company have signed a joint Memorandum of Understanding for the cooperation and development of the offshore wind power project in Binh Thuan Province.
Vinh Phong Project has a capacity of 1,000MW and is divided into two phases. Consortium partners aim to achieve the Commercial Operating Date (COD) of the first phase of 600MW by 2026, and the second phase of 400MW is expected to enable the achievement of COD in 2030.
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Vinh Phong counts on raising VND72.9 trillion of investment, it is expected that when it comes into operation, the project will not only provide billions of kWh of electricity for the national power system but also contribute about VND10 trillion of tax contributions and creating 2500 qualified jobs, including 1,800 jobs at the construction stage, 200 jobs at the operation stage and 500 jobs at the dismantling stage.
The project has received practical support from the People's Committee of Binh Thuan Province. Specifically, the province has approved in principle to the Consortium for implementing necessary legal procedures to report to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for submission to the government for inclusion of the project onto the PDP VIII.
Alain Bernard, Chairman of the Board of Directors of DEME Concessions Wind NV said, “The Vinh Phong Consortium members, along with numerous Vietnamese and international experts, are deeply convinced that Vinh Phong Offshore Wind Project should be considered a priority wind farm project under PDP VIII, and that it may be the first completed offshore wind project in Vietnam.
According to experts, to successfully implement large offshore wind energy projects, which are new to Vietnam, the investors and developers are required to meet strict criteria. These include proven offshore construction experience, technical expertise and ability to implement large-scale offshore projects, knowledge of the latest turbines/foundations and other technologies, highly skilled professionals, as well as a strong financial position and a number of successful investments in large offshore projects.
For Vinh Phong Offshore Wind Power Project, the Consortium partners are enterprises with professional experience and financial capacity. In particular, they all have investment and business activities in Vietnam. Specifically, the state company Zarubezhneft has been successfully implementing offshore oil and gas projects in Vietnam since 1981 and has extensive experience in implementing international oil and gas projects around the world. The company has reliable long-term relationships with leading oil companies in Russia and the world. For many years, the development of offshore fields has been the main area of professional expertise of Zarubezhneft in other countries and its most important competitive advantage. Based on its global experience, the company is currently engaged in the development of renewable energy sources with a particular focus on offshore wind power projects in Vietnam.
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The main production facility of the company in Vietnam is JV Vietsovpetro, in which Zarubezhneft owns 49 percent and PetroVietnam owns the remainder. This joint venture has one of the best offshore bases in Southeast Asia for the construction and installation of offshore drilling platforms. Having such a superior manufacturing facility for the construction and operation of offshore wind farms, coupled with the world-class DEME Offshore fleet of specialized vessels and tremendous experience in the installation and construction of offshore wind farms, makes the Vinh Phong Consortium's program fully feasible. And the recently signed Memorandum underlines this.
Meanwhile, The DEME Group of Companies, with over 140 years of experience in the marine engineering and offshore industry, is the leading contractor for offshore wind farms in the world. DEME Concessions Wind, established in 2014, is a subsidiary of the DEME Group, which brings together all of the offshore wind concession groups. DEME Concessions Wind is a shareholder in a diversified portfolio of European offshore wind projects of over 1.5GW, with projects from development to operation. DEME Offshore has installed over 75 offshore wind farms worldwide, including 30 percent of all foundations and 40 percent of wind turbines.
Speaking at the signing ceremony last April, S.I. Kudryashov, General Director of Zarubezhneft JSC said, “State support from the government of the Russian Federation in combination with the experience of Zarubezhneft in Vietnam, the possibilities of priority provision of project services by JV Vietsovpetro and DEME Offshore, as well as experience, technical capabilities and the advanced DEME fleet certainly provide the Vinh Phong Offshore Wind project with the best prospects for a successful and efficient implementation.”
The Consortium’s representative said, with the support from state authorities, the investors’ capacity together with the participation of two experienced and highly qualified enterprises – the well-established Vietnamese offshore contractor Vietsovpetro and leading offshore wind energy contractor DEME Offshore – ensure that Vinh Phong is not only a feasible project, but also has every chance to become a locomotive for a powerful start of an entire new offshore energy sector in Vietnam.
