What are the remaining gaps in Vietnam's wind supply chain? What opportunities can these "gaps" bring to Vietnamese enterprises?

On November 15^th 2023, at the Pan Pacific Hotel in Hanoi, the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC) organized a workshop on "Scaling up Finance for Offshore Wind in Vietnam; Opportunities for domestic enterprises to participate in offshore wind supply chain development”.

Speaking at the workshop, Mr. Vuong Anh Dung - Deputy General Director of Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 4 (EVNPECC4) presented his perspective on opportunities and challenges for Vietnamese enterprises to participate in the supply chain for offshore wind power development.

The following key contents are excerpted from the sharing of Mr. Vuong Anh Dung - Deputy General Director of EVNPECC4 at this international workshop:

In recent years, onshore, nearshore and offshore wind power projects have started to be developed in Vietnam. However, currently there are only oil and gas facilities of the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (Petrovietnam). Therefore, experience in research, development, investment, construction and operation of offshore power projects is limited.

Regarding surveys, the country still lacks advanced offshore survey vessels and equipment. Regarding human resources, there is a shortage of experts with experience in interpreting survey data related to offshore construction techniques, including environmental data; oceanographic data; offshore geotechnical data.

Regarding engineering, the system of standards and regulations for engineering, construction and acceptance of offshore wind power projects is not yet available. Domestic engineering units, apart from their strengths in power system analysis and engineering grid system for connecting wind power projects to the national grid, still lack extensive experience in plant engineering.

Regarding offshore construction and installation, domestic contractors can participate and undertake a part of the construction and installation of foundation systems, wind turbines, offshore substations, submarine cables.

Regarding manufacturing, there are still gaps in Vietnam's supply chain related to turbines including production and assembly of nacelles, blades, large steel towers. In recent times, domestic companies have won international bids to manufacture jacket foundations for offshore wind turbines in Taiwan.

Regarding operation and maintenance, technical expertise related to offshore wind is still lacking. It is necessary to focus on personnel training and development to ensure the long-term operation (25-35 years) of an offshore project.

Regarding seaport services, to serve the construction and installation process, seaport infrastructure needs to meet some specific requirements, including: ports with capacity over 20,000 DWT; minimum water depth of 10m in front of wharves; ideal wharf length from 350-400m; ground and yard bearing capacity from 10-50 tons/sqm. There are many ports in the central and south central coastal regions of Vietnam that meet or can be upgraded to meet the above requirements.

The above challenges also present opportunities for pioneering domestic companies to focus on personnel training, invest in equipment to prepare for future development trends. Some companies have been involved in manufacturing foundation systems in overseas projects. This will be a good premise for developing offshore wind projects in Vietnam to increase localization and reduce offshore wind costs to an acceptable level in the domestic market.

In recent years, EVNPECC4 has proposed many offshore wind projects in the Gulf of Tonkin, Central, South Central and Southern regions of Vietnam; established an offshore wind research team, studied abroad in Europe and some other Asian countries. EVNPECC4 has also focused on studying international standards in this field to quickly grasp techniques for offshore surveys and engineering in order to meet future market requirements.