USTDA Strengthens Support of Wind Power Development in Vietnam

(USTDA) Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam – Today the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a grant to the Cong Ly Construction-Trade-Tourism Company Ltd. to develop a 300-megawatt (MW) wind power project in Vietnam. The feasibility study grant will assist Cong Ly Ltd., a private sector firm that operates the only near-offshore wind project in Vietnam, in its efforts to develop a third phase of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm.

“USTDA is pleased to support the increase of renewable energy production in Vietnam through the expansion of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm,” said Sarah Randolph, Country Manager for Southeast Asia, who signed the grant on behalf of the Agency. “This grant represents the next step in a series of successful partnerships with Vietnam’s wind power sector.”

Commercial operation for Phase I of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm, which uses ten U.S.-manufactured wind turbines from General Electric that generate approximately 16 MW of power, commenced in August 2013. For Phase III, the feasibility study will assist Cong Ly Ltd. in expanding this wind farm through the examination of the technical challenges that arise from an offshore location. The study will include a wind resource and energy assessment, a review of permitting and land control issues, an electrical grid interconnection and foundation design, construction cost estimates, and a financing plan. This project is a key deliverable of the U.S.-Asia Pacific Comprehensive Energy Partnership (USACEP), a whole-of-government initiative that seeks to build U.S. business engagement in the region’s clean energy development, while stimulating infrastructure and grid improvements.

The study builds upon USTDA’s portfolio of wind sector projects in Vietnam, including an ongoing wind grid code development and renewable integration feasibility study being undertaken in cooperation with the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam and General Electric International, Inc. In 2013, USTDA brought wind power project developers to the United States to meet with U.S. wind turbine manufacturers and the Export-Import Bank of the United States. Cong Ly Ltd. was one of those companies, and in December 2014, Cong Ly Ltd. signed a contract for over 50 General Electric turbines with financing from Ex-Im Bank for Phase II of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm.

The opportunity to conduct the USTDA-funded feasibility study for Phase III will be competed through Federal Business Opportunities. A link to the FBO announcement will be posted to USTDA’s website at www.ustda.gov. Interested U.S. firms should submit proposals according to the instructions in the FBO announcement.