Vietnam, US cooperate in developing renewable energy

The US is willing to provide technical assistance and share experience in developing renewable energy in Vietnam, US Consul General Rena Bitter said Thursday

Bitter said it during a joint Vietnam-US workshop on wind power cooperation in Vietnam's southern Ho Chi Minh (HCM) City, Xinhua reported.

The US official noted that many US agencies have committed to renewable energy development in Vietnam, which was showed through a clean energy project by the US Agency for International Development (USAID), and a wind turbine supply contract between General Electric (GE) of the US and Cong Ly Co. Ltd. of Vietnam.

In addition, the US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has received Vietnamese experts to study renewable energy in the US.

GE and Cong Ly signed a contract in late 2013 to supply wind turbines to southern Bac Lieu wind farm project, marking the first cooperation deal of its kind between Vietnam and the US.

The project, at an investment of 5.2 trillion Vietnamese dong ($246 million) and a design capacity of 99.1MW, has 62 wind turbines. The wind farm has so far generated a total of 16MW.

According to Pham Trong Thuc, head of the New and Renewable Energy Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Vietnam-US cooperation in wind power will help Vietnam develop renewable energy and ensure national energy security in the future.

Vietnam has great potential for wind power development thanks to its long coastal line. Yet, wind power generation remains modest. Investors have registered 48 wind power projects with a combined capacity of 4,876MW, but only three of them have been operational.

In its renewal energy development plan, Vietnam aims to raise its wind power output from 1,000MW by 2020 to 6,200MW by 2030, the ministry said.