VietNamNet Bridge – General Electric has gained a contract with domestic partner for providing its wind turbines in Vietnam, setting a milestone for the firm to penetrate into renewable power industry in this Southeast Asian country.
Under the contract, General Electric (GE) will provide ten turbines and operations and maintenance services to Cong Ly Company Ltd for the phase one of the Bac Lieu wind power farm, totaling 16 megawatts of power generation capacity.
This is among contracts for providing wind turbines in Vietnam since GE started manufacturing wind turbines in northern Haiphong port city factory in May last year.
The Bac Lieu wind project further expands GE's role in Vietnam, where the company has been active since the 1960s, providing technological support for a variety of power generation projects throughout the country. With an installed base of more than 2,000 megawatts, GE equipment today supplies approximately 18 per cent of the country's power generation capacity.
"The Bac Lieu project illustrates our commitment to offer our customers the best technology to meet their specific project requirements," said Nguyen Xuan Thang, country executive for GE Energy in Vietnam.
"We are focused on helping Cong Ly achieve success with this project, which is a significant milestone for the Bac Lieu province," he added.
The GE wind turbines chosen for this project feature an 82.5 meter rotor for class III wind conditions, making it a good match for the Bac Lieu site. The 1.6-82.5 builds on the success and the global experience of GE's 1.5MW wind turbine, the industry's most widely deployed megawatt-class machine with more than 16,000 installed worldwide.
"This will be the first large-scale industrial and energy project in Bac Lieu province, which has huge potential in wind energy, along with agriculture and seafood farming," said To Hoai Dan, chairman of Cong Ly Company Ltd.
In the second phase, Cong Ly Company Ltd plans add up to 120 megawatts of power to help resolve the country's chronic power shortages.
"We expect that the project will help to improve the social and economic conditions of the province by creating new jobs requiring technical and industrial skills, while producing much-needed power. We also hope this first large-scale wind farm project will help to attract more investments into the Bac Lieu province in the future," said Dan.
