The Energy Sector Welcomes New FDI Inflows

The Politburo’s Resolution 55-NQ/TW in 2020 creates great hope for business expansion for FDI enterprises providing complete equipment, technology and solutions for Vietnam energy market.

According to Wärtsilä Vietnam Country Director, Resolution 55-NQ/TW aims to develop synchronously and reasonably, diversify types of energy, prioritizing the exploitation and use of all renewable energy sources, new energy, clean energy. This is the core business of Wärtsilä (from Finland, specializing in the development of sustainable and closed solutions for the energy market) for the past 184 years.

In the Vietnamese market, Wärtsilä is doing strong marketing with the hope of increasing sales by providing technology for power projects. Wärtsilä’s energy business is leading the transition towards a future using 100% renewable energy. Wärtsilä offers flexible power plants, energy management and storage systems, as well as closed services to increase effectiveness and ensure efficiency.

With the push of the Government, in recent years, renewable energy has developed extremely strong in Vietnam and this is a very good opportunity to invest in the energy sector in Vietnam.

Another supplier – Fortum Power and Heat OY Finland is also looking forward to the coming of Resolution 55-NQ/TW to come to life soon. This business provides technology to minimize harmful thermal power emissions, mixed energy system development solutions in many markets around the globe.

Fortum’s hydropower plant efficiency enhancement technology will enable efficient hydropower plant operation, minimizing overhaul and plant downtime. With coal-fired power, Fortum’s technology allows it to replace up to 40% of the required amount of coal in coal-fired thermal power plants… This is what is being considered in the Vietnam energy development process.

With the national electricity demand growth rate for the 2016 – 2020 period of 10.6% and 8.5% for the period of 2021 – 2025 and 7% in the period of 2026 – 2030, Vietnam becomes an attractive market for domestic energy investors and foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprises. Accordingly, Vietnam needs to mobilize an additional 5,000 MW from now to 2025, which means that each year, it needs to pour an additional 7 – 10 billion USD to invest in power projects.

There have been new moves to welcome FDI inflows into energy. Recently, the US Millennium Company has been allowed by the Management Board of Van Phong Economic Zone (Khanh Hoa) to survey and research projects in the Van Phong area to study the feasibility of the gas-power project complex.

According to Millennium, the LNG Center Project (over 10 million m3) and the Power Plant (capacity of 4,800 MW) has a total initial investment capital of 8 billion USD. In the future, the Company will increase the capacity of the power plant to 9,600 MW and the warehouse to 15 million m3, with an investment of 15 billion USD. Secretary of Khanh Hoa Provincial Party Committee affirmed that the idea of implementing the LNG Center and Power Plant Project of Millennium Company is suitable with the potential and orientation of industrial development in this area.

Previously, at the Vietnam Energy Summit 2020, a series of cooperation in the implementation of energy projects was signed. Typically, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP – Denmark) and Binh Thuan province have signed a Memorandum of Understanding for the development of La Gam offshore wind power project with a total capacity of up to 3.5 GW, with an investment of 10 billion USD. This is one of the first large-scale offshore wind power projects in Vietnam, as a prerequisite for attracting other foreign investors to offshore wind power projects.

CIP is a pioneer in the offshore wind power industry in the Asia – Pacific, including projects in Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Australia. CIP operates 7 funds with more than 10 billion USD in committed capital. Funds have implemented more than 20 portfolios in energy infrastructure, with a total capacity of nearly 8 GW in the United States, UK, Germany, Spain and Taiwan. The funds also have more than 15 energy infrastructure projects that are in the process of preparing final investment decisions and are expected to commence within the next 2 – 3 years.

According to the founding member of CIP, with the project in Binh Thuan, CIP commits to continue to cooperate with local partners to turn this project into a model of a successful technology transfer project in parallel with making maximum use of local resources and expertise.

Millenium Oil and Gas Corporation Applied to Invest 15 Billion USD in Khanh Hoa

Millennium Oil and Gas Corporation (USA) proposed to invest in Vietnam energy sector with a liquefied gas power project in Nam Van Phong area, Khanh Hoa with a total investment of up to 15 billion USD.

After studying, Chairman of Millenium Vietnam Company (a member of Millenium Petroleum Group), if approved, they will invest in this project with a scale of 600ha, total investment capital of 15 billion USD, capacity of the power plant is 9,600MW.

In addition, Millenium Oil and Gas Group will invest in a port system to supply gas to power plants and LNG distribution agents for the whole of Southeast Asia. The location chosen by the investor is in My Giang village, Ninh Phuoc commune or maybe in Ninh Hai ward, Ninh Hoa town.

If the Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee agrees to permit the investment, the project will be guaranteed by the US Government and will work with the Government of Vietnam to implement. The group hopes to turn the LNG terminal in southern Van Phong into the energy hub of Southeast Asia. Because Millenium is a corporation specializing in oil exploitation, it will sell gas directly to consumers without intermediaries, this is an advantage.

According to the Chairman of Khanh Hoa Provincial People’s Committee, the area of investors applying for investment in the power plant and LNG storage is totally consistent with the local development orientation.

It is known that Millenium Petroleum has 35 years of experience in implementing advanced power projects from natural gas, liquefied natural gas, wind, solar, geothermal and waste.

The Group has implemented power projects in the US and countries around the world with a total investment of more than 36 billion USD. At the same time, the group is also the unit that holds many of the world’s leading advanced technologies and techniques, many of which are not available to other businesses.

The Development of Renewable Energy in Vietnam

On June 15th, 2020, at the National Assembly’s socio-economic discussion session, the Ministry of Industry and Trade clarified a number of issues related to the implementation of power projects and energy security in Vietnam amid the the situation of energy supply, especially electricity supply is facing many difficulties when hydroelectric and thermal power reserves are almost fully exploited and the risk of energy import is increasing.

Vietnam has the advantage of being an equatorial country, with high annual sunshine hours (average from 1800-2600 hours/year) which is an advantage to develop solar energy. Vietnam has a long coastline (3260 km) and favorable terrain, the construction of wind power stations is a solution that can help improve Vietnam’s electricity output in the next years.

As reported by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, for solar power, the total planned capacity of about 10,300 MW has been operated on 90 solar power projects with a total capacity of about 5,000 MW. For wind power, as proposed by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Prime Minister has agreed to supplement the planning of an additional 7,000 MW of wind power, raising the total scale of wind power capacity planned to 11,630 MW.

In addition, according to Vietnam’s commitment at COP21, Vietnam will reduce the greenhouse gas emissions by 8% by 2030. And with effective support from the international community, Vietnam can cut its emissions by 25% greenhouse gas emissions by 2030. And the Clean energy technology is one of the best solutions to fulfill this commitment.

In addition, the installation, operation and maintenance of wind and solar power systems are relatively simple, at low cost therefore will save time and cost for investors. Besides, clean energy does not cause impacts on large-scale migration environment, such as deforestation, emissions of dust, water and ash, etc. In contrast, it also creates beautiful and majestic landscapes, and attractive to visitors, this is in line with Vietnam’s sustainable development goals in the future.

With economic and environmental advantages, the scientists forecast that, in the world to 2040 and 2050, the percentage of solar power capacity in total generating capacity will be 45% and 50 %; The structure of electricity production by 2050 is as follows: Number 1 is solar power: 35.8%; followed by onshore wind power: 24.3%; Offshore wind power: 12.1%; Hydroelectricity: 12.4% and the rest are other sources of renewable energy and fossils and nuclear: 15.4%.

In order to ensure the implementation of the overall plan for the coming time, the Ministry of Industry and Trade is focusing on speeding up the construction of the electricity Planning No. VIII to submit to the Government in the fourth quarter of 2020. In particular, following the contents of the Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW of the Politburo on “Vietnam’s national energy development strategy orientation to 2030, vision to 2045” on February 11th, 2020, according to which ratio of sources of renewable energy in the total primary energy supply will reach about 15-20% by 2030; 25-30% by 2045.

According to Resolution No. 55-NQ/TW, Vietnam will develop breakthrough mechanisms and policies to encourage and promote the renewable energy sources in order to replace fossil energy sources at maximum. Prioritizing the use of wind and solar energy for electricity generation; encourage investment in building power plants using urban waste, biomass and solid waste in parallel with environmental protection and economic development of the circulation. To establish and develop a number of renewable energy centers in advantageous regions and localities. Then researching and assessing the overall potential and developing development orientations for geothermal energy, ocean waves, tides and ocean currents; deploy a number of application models, conduct pilot tests to evaluate the effectiveness. To undertake technological research, formulate a number of production pilot projects and encourage the use of hydrogen energy in line with the general trend of the world. In addition, the Resolution prioritizes the development of renewable energy in line with the ability to ensure system safety with reasonable electricity costs and encourage the development of rooftop and surface solar power. To develop groundbreaking support policies and mechanisms for offshore wind power development in association with the implementation of the Vietnam’s Sea Strategy.

With advantages and priority policies for renewable energy development as above, Vietnam hopes that more international investors will invest and set up company in renewable energy to in Viet Nam.

More Than 88,000 Billion VND Invested in Renewable Energy in Ninh Thuan

Ninh Thuan province of Vietnam is an attractive destination of foreign investors who want to invest in Vietnam energy industry.

As of June 2020, Ninh Thuan province has 34 solar power projects, 13 wind power projects that have been granted investment policy decisions, with a total capital of over 88,782 billion VND.

According to Department of Planning and Investment of Ninh Thuan province, as of June 2020, there have been 34 solar power projects/2,376.85MW and 13 wind power projects/678.95MW that have been granted investment policy decisions, with a total capital of over 88,782 billion VND, has connected to the national grid 25 projects with a total capacity of 1,556.55 MW.

Currently, some large-scale projects are being accelerated to complete in 2020, such as the Trung Nam – Thuan Nam Solar Power Plant project (450 MW) combining 220/500 kV transformer station and 500 kV, 220 kV transmission line in Phuoc Minh commune (Thuan Nam district), with a total investment of 12,000 billion VND. The completion of this project will release the capacity of renewable energy plants in Ninh Thuan and Binh Thuan areas, adding more than 1 billion kWh of electricity per year to the national electricity system.

In order to create a breakthrough, to develop quickly and sustainably, with the permission of the Prime Minister, Ninh Thuan province is the first province in the country to hire the Monitor Group of the US to formulate the provincial socio-economic development master plan of Ninh Thuan province in the period of 2011 – 2020 and vision to 2030. At the same time, hired the British Arup Group to formulate a master plan for Phan Rang -Thap Cham city development and coastal planning of the province.

According to the provincial socio-economic development master plan already approved by the Prime Minister. The province’s economic development orientation in the coming time is to build Ninh Thuan into a high quality tourist center and clean energy center of the country. In particular, priority should be given to the development of six key groups of industries, including: Energy, Tourism, Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Industry, Construction and Real Estate Business, Education and Training.

Regarding energy development, Ninh Thuat province has achieved great results. The province has taken the initiative in developing the approval of the provincial Electricity Development Plan for the 2016 – 2025 period, with a vision to 2035; Ninh Thuan solar power development plan for the period of 2016 – 2020, vision to 2030 with the scale of 10,476 MW.

Especially in 2018, the province proposed and was issued a Resolution No. 115/NQ-CP by the Government on specific mechanisms and policies to support Ninh Thuan province. This is a policy of great importance to the socio-economic development of the province in the period to 2023 and the following years, with many new policy mechanisms, focusing on breakthrough industries of the province, especially the policy of building Ninh Thuan to become the center of renewable energy of the whole country.

This policy allows Ninh Thuan to enjoy the preferential electricity price mechanism of 9.35 Uscent/Kwh with a capacity of 2,000 MW until the end of 2020; developing Bac Ai accumulating hydroelectricity (capacity of 1,200 MW); Ca Na electrification center (LNG) (scale of 1,500 MW) …

Thanks to the large investment capital poured into renewable energy projects, Ninh Thuan’s GRDP in the first 6 months of 2020 reach 8,967 billion VND, increase by 8.46% over the same period; State budget revenue reached 1,770 billion VND; total investment capital of the whole society is estimated at 18,450 billion VND…

Wind Power: The Inevitable Trend of Sustainable Development

With the increasing demand for electricity, Vietnam is also gradually considering investing in renewable energy, including wind power as the key to addressing energy security, contributing to the realization of the country’s green development strategy.

Energy is one of essential human needs and an indispensable input of economic activity. As the living standards of the people are improving, the level of production of the economy is more modern, the demand for energy is also growing, and satisfying this demand is a real challenge for almost every country.

The race to exploit fossil fuels at all costs of human beings is reaching the limits of nature’s endurance, causing polluted living environments, climate change, causing unrest for the welfare of the community and become one of the global non-traditional security issues, threatening the survival of humanity.

Being aware of that, many countries around the world have been switching from fossil fuel to renewable energy for sustainable development. In many areas, power source from renewable energy projects is equivalent to those from fossil fuel projects, breaking the threshold that we believed to be impracticable.

Currently, in Europe, nearly 50% of new power development projects are wind power projects. In China – the most populous country, in March 2017, the Government shut down its last coal-fired power plant in Beijing to switch to renewable and gas electricity and.

According to the IEA latest report, globally, in 2016, investments in wind and solar power have doubled investments in fossil-fuel power. Furthermore, it is estimated that wind, solar and gas powers will completely replace coal power in the next 25 years.

In Vietnam, the development of the economy has made demand for electricity surge while supply capacity has not developed in time. The Ministry of Industry and Trade has forecasted that average electricity production growth rate of Vietnam in the period 2016 – 2020 is 10.7% per year and the period 2021 – 2025 is 8.6% per year.

Therefore, the Government of Vietnam considers the exploitation and utilization of renewable energy resources have special and strategic meaning in terms of socio-economic, national security and defense, energy security, sustainable development and minimizing environmental impact.

Most experts said that Vietnam has enormous potential for wind power. According to a study by the World Bank, Vietnam has the largest wind energy potential in the region, surpassing Laos, Cambodia and Thailand.

Accordingly, Vietnam’s wind reserve is estimated at 513,360 MW, more than 6 times the estimated total capacity of the electricity sector by 2020. The World Bank study also showed that 8.6% of Viet Nam’s land area is very potential, convenient for the installation of large wind turbines. The corresponding figure of Cambodia is 0.2%, Laos is 2.9% and Thailand is 0.2%.

Understanding the general trend of the world as well as encouraging investment incentives of the Government, about 50 wind power projects have been registered for investment in Vietnam and there are 4 projects with total capacity of 159.2 MW has gone into commercial operation.

Most recently, the Phuong Mai 3 Wind Power Project in Nhon Hoi Economic Zone (Quy Nhon – Binh Dinh), has a capacity of 21 MW – 28 MW, including 14 turbines with a total investment of 40 – 50 million USD are invested by HALCOM Company and its international partners. With an area of 140 hectares, the project is expected to supply about 72 million kWh of electricity per year and reduce emissions by 40,000 tons of CO2 per year. According to representatives of HALCOM, the project will be implemented in 2017 – 2018. Once completed, the estimated revenue can reach 150 billion VND per year.

Thai Giant Acquires Solar Power Project in Vietnam

Many foreign investors have chosen Vietnam as a destination to invest in solar power project in Vietnam.

Together with the explosion of solar power projects, 2019 is considered to be the peak year of the ‘underground waves’ surrounding the race for additional licenses for solar power planning in all levels from central to local. The situation of license trading, project transfer to foreign investors also appeared.

Along with the rush of solar power projects, in recent days, a series of news that many weak investors still have acquired large-scale renewable energy projects, then quickly transferring to foreign investors to make profit gradually appearing in many forums about renewable energy. Even, according to the announcement of foreign investors, the transfer of solar power projects in Vietnam is taking place very excitingly.

Most recently, the Board of Directors of Super Energy Corporation Company Limited (Super Energy) of Thailand announced that at the end of March 2020, they have sent a letter to the Thai Securities Commission announcing the decision to spend no more than 456.7 million USD to invest in 4 solar power plant projects, including Loc Ninh 1 (200 MW), Loc Ninh 2 (200 MW), Loc Ninh 3 (150 MW) and Loc Ninh 4 (200 MW) in Binh Phuoc province (Vietnam).

According to the announcement, the investment in Loc Ninh 1 solar power project is 99.7 million USD; in Loc Ninh 2 is 140 million USD; in Loc Ninh 3 is 105 million USD and in Loc Ninh 4 is 112 million USD. In order to raise the ownership rate at businesses implementing the 4 solar projects, the Super Energy project has to pay a total of 72.9 million USD as scheduled. In particular, the amount paid in March 2020 is more than 5.7 million USD. Specifically, the payment in March 2020 was 13,667 million USD. The amount payable in June 2020 will be 32.4 million USD and the amount payable in November 2020 will be 11.6 million USD. Under the agreement, if the purchase price is different from the forecast of 7.09 US cents/kWh, the value of the stock will be adjusted according to the actual purchase price.

However, according to initial information, not all Vietnamese partners (many believe that subsidiaries of Hung Hai Group) will receive all this money. Currently the first payment took place with the amount of 5,732 million USD. The remaining payments will be accompanied by detailed conditions such as when there is land lease decision, construction permit, grid contract, land use right certificate, or certificate of eligibility for commercial electricity generation with the purchase price of electricity is 7.09 UScents/kWh…

Notably, before the acquisition of the 4 mentioned projects, the Thai energy company owned 6 solar power projects in Vietnam. As of March 2020, these 6 projects alone had a total capacity of up to 286.72 MW, equal to half of the total capacity of 100 solar power projects in Thailand that SEC owns.

A special feature is that all 6 power projects in Vietnam that Super Energy acquired earlier only had the return on investment (EIRR) of 12-13%. And power projects under Loc Ninh project cluster have much higher EIRR, from 16.59% to 17.4%. In addition to solar power projects, the SEC also owns 4 wind power projects in Vietnam, in Bac Lieu, Soc Trang, Phu Yen and Gia Lai provinces. These projects are expected to be fully or partially operational from Q4/2021.

According to research, through the form of joint venture, transfer of shares with Vietnamese enterprises, many foreign energy and investment corporations have owned dozens of solar and wind power projects and enjoyed preferential prices of 9.35 UScents/kWh for 20 years in Vietnam.

Among these are the two solar power plants TTC 1 and TTC 2 in Tay Ninh, invested and operated by Thanh Thanh Cong Group and Gulf Energy Group (Thailand), operated in the middle of 2019. At that time, Thai group owns 49% of the capital but in the latest change, Gulf has increased its holding to 90%. Apart from the solar power projects in Tay Ninh, Thai group also holds wind power projects in Ben Tre with 95% ownership.

In addition to the above mentioned projects, Super Energy has also invested in the form of buying shares in solar power projects in Ninh Thuan, An Giang… In addition to Thailand, many investors come from Singapore, China, Philippines… also owns dozens of solar and wind power projects in Vietnam through shares and joint ventures.