Addressing the event, Assistant of the Foreign Minister of Vietnam – H.E Nguyen Minh Vu expressed optimism about the development of renewable energy and wind power in particular. After thirty-two years since the first offshore wind farm was installed on the southern coast of Denmark, offshore wind energy has become a large-scale technology that supplies energy to millions of people worldwide. In the long term, offshore wind power will be cheaper than current fossil fuel based energy sources. Other types of offshore renewable energy are also becoming indispensable elements of the modern, blue economy.
As a coastal state at the South China Sea, Vietnam is contributing to the global effort to the energy transition. Vietnam aims to find alternatives to coal with the support of the international community in the near future. Vietnam’s effort is demonstrated through its commitments at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference of the Parties (COP26) and the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP). The 8th Power Development Plan (FDP8) foresees Vietnam to raise its offshore wind capacity to 7GW by 2030 and to 65GW by 2045, while cutting its use of coal for the energy production. Wind power would then account for some 15.8 percent of the Vietnam’s total power capacity, including 4.8 percent of offshore wind power.
The 10th Ocean dialogue is consisted of four sessions: (1) Offshore Renewable Energy and Geo-politics; (2) The UN Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and Offshore Renewable Energy, (3) Regional and International Practices in Offshore Renewable Energy, (4) Policy Recommendations for Developing Offshore Renewable Energy in the South China Sea.
On the second consecutive day, a field trip to Ninh Thuan province was organized to visit the Trungnam wind power plant. With 45 wind turbines provided by the German company Enercon GmbH and an installed capacity of 152 GW this is the largest onshore wind park in Vietnam. Experts further exchanged their opinions about the lessons-learnt from onshore wind power for the development of offshore renewable energy and discussed the prospects of international cooperation.
Experts at the event echoed the opinion that the development of offshore renewable energy is a great opportunity for Vietnam because it contributes to its socio-economic growth, its energy security and targets Vietnam’s international commitment to become carbon free by 2050.
