Offshore Wind Could Supply 12 Per Cent of Vietnam’s Power by 2035 – World Bank Group

Offshore wind has the potential to supply 12 per cent of Vietnam’s electricity by 2035, according to the Offshore Wind Roadmap for Vietnam launched by the World Bank Group.

The roadmap provides strategic analysis of the offshore wind development potential in Vietnam It was prepared, under contract to the World Bank, by BVG Associates in association with Atkins, Frontier Economics, Sterling Technical Services (Vietnam), and Du Van Toan.

Vietnam has an energetic and abundant offshore wind resource that is located close to demand centres and in relatively shallow water—although this roadmap focuses on areas further offshore which have higher wind speeds and energy yields.

Replacing coal-fired generation with offshore wind could help to avoid over 200 million metric tons of CO2 emissions and add at least USD 50 billion to Vietnam’s economy by stimulating the growth of a strong, local supply chain, creating thousands of skilled jobs, and exporting to other offshore wind markets globally, the roadmap shows.

”Vietnam’s economy and carbon emissions will benefit significantly from the development of an offshore wind sector,” said Neil Douglas, Director at BVG Associates.

”Our experience in developed offshore wind markets is that ambitious, long-term targets serve as cornerstones for cost reduction and industry development.”

The roadmap analyses two possible growth scenarios for Vietnam’s offshore wind industry. The ‘low growth’ scenario with moderate expansion of offshore wind, resulting in offshore wind supplying five percent of Vietnam’s electricity needs by 2035. The ‘high growth’ scenario has significant expansion of offshore wind, resulting in offshore wind supplying 12 per cent of Vietnam’s electricity needs by 2035.

The roadmap suggests that regulations, legislation, processes, and infrastructure need to be developed to deliver the vision that is eventually set by the Government of Vietnam. The roadmap provides a series of recommended next steps to help create the conditions to establish and grow an industry.

The report was formally launched at webinar aimed at key Vietnamese stakeholders on 9 June. The study is intended to support collaboration between the Government of Vietnam and the wind industry. It does not represent the views of the Government of Vietnam.

This roadmap, a joint WB-IFC study, is one of a series of offshore wind roadmap studies commissioned by the World Bank Group under the joint ESMAP-IFC Offshore Wind Development Program. Funding for this study was provided by the Energy Sector Management Assistance Program (ESMAP).