Top leaders of Denmark-based Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and UK-based Enterprize Energy said they would pour billions of dollars into existing offshore wind power projects in Vietnam to tap the country's potential, which has a coastline of 3,260 km.

Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Robert Helms, Associate Partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners at COP28 in Dubai, UAE on December 3. Photos: Nhat Bac/VGP

Robert Helms, Associate Partner at Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners and Founder of Enterprize Energy Ian Hatton, said at the meeting with Vietnam’s Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on December 3 in Dubai, UAE, within the 2023 United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP28).

Accordingly, Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners will proceed with its projects in Vietnam’s central province of Binh Thuan, which amounts to US$10.5 billion, while Enterprize Energy is working on projects costing $16.9 billion in the same locality.

Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) has set up two joint ventures and two offices in Vietnam to develop its projects, including a 3.5-GW La Gan Offshore Wind Power Project costing $10.5 billion. The company has signed a contract worth $200 million and the upcoming one costing $350 million while finalizing procedures for the projects.

Globally, CIP is developing 50 GW of offshore wind in Germany, the UK, and the US. It plans to invest more than $110 billion in renewable energy by 2030.

Enterprize Energy, meanwhile, has worked with French Société Générale, Danish Vestas, and British ODE to develop the Thang Long Wind complex, including Thang Long Wind capacity of 3,400 MW costing an investment of $11.9 billion and Thang Long Wind 2 capacity of 2,000 MW at an investment cost of $5 billion.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Founder of Enterprize Energy Ian Hatton.

At the meeting, the business executives talked about their experience and capability in renewable energy and suggested the next steps for better operations in Vietnam.

PM Chinh stressed that their projects in Vietnam align with the Power Development Plan VIII (PDP8), saying that collaborating with the Ministry of Planning and Investment and the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) will help tackle problems.

He said that the government will pay attention to investing in power generation and transmission while stressing the importance of energy efficiency. The country will also refine legislation to build a renewable energy industry with preferential tax and land rent coupled with suitable power prices.

Notably, the government has assigned PetroVietnam to examine and build sea-crossing power lines and promote offshore wind power, the Vietnamese Prime Minister said on the last day of his trip to attend COP28 to affirm Vietnam’s determination for climate targets again.

Accordingly, the government would examine offshore wind power potential and suitable power transmission.

PetroVietnam’s General Director Le Manh Hung said Vietnam is surveying its offshore wind reserves and building a database with necessary policies and a roadmap for investors. The group is cooperating with many international businesses to make a list of offshore wind projects, which will be submitted to the government soon while improving human resources for the renewable energy industry.

State agencies estimated that Vietnam needs between $120 billion and $140 billion to implement PDP8 and speed up energy transition in the next decade. The Resource Mobilization Plan launched two days ago at COP28 is part of an effort to call for international technical and financial support, policy consultation, and investment in renewables.