AC Energy (ACEN) and joint venture partner BIM Group announced on Monday the start of commercial operations of their 88-megawatt (MW) Ninh Thuan wind farm in Vietnam.
Located in South Central Vietnam, the $155 million wind farm features 22 units of GE Renewable Energy’s Cypress turbines. It is expected to produce 327 gigawatt-hours per year once fully operational, enough to power around 50,000 homes per year with renewable energy that can help avoid 298,551 tonnes of CO2 annually.
The project brings AC Energy’s renewable energy (RE) capacity in the country to around 1,000MW — both in operation and under construction, making Vietnam the company’s second largest market to date after the Philippines.
This is the second joint project of ACEN and the BIM Group following the 405MW Ninh Thuan solar farm, one of Southeast Asia’s largest solar farms. Inaugurated in 2019, the facility reached a significant milestone with a one-billion kilowatt-hour (kWh) output.
The Ninh Thuan solar and wind facilities are expected to generate around 900 million kWh in RE annually, establishing the joint venture’s strong support of Vietnam’s energy transition.
“We are very excited to bring this new project into commercial operations ahead of the Feed-In-Tariff deadline, notwithstanding the many challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic,” AC Energy International COO Patrice Clausse said in a statement.
“As we continue to carve a niche for ourselves by developing some of the most notable renewable energy plants in Vietnam to date, we will continue to accelerate our investments in renewables in the country and aid in its goal to increase the share of renewables in their energy mix,” he added.
ACEN President and CEO Eric Francia said the company currently has around 2,100MW in RE capacity, and is on track to attain its goal of having 5,000MW in its renewables portfolio by 2025, and become the region’s largest renewables platform.
“We laud the Vietnam government’s strong commitment to renewable energy and for creating an enabling environment for industry players such as ourselves to participate in the country’s thriving power sector,” Francia added.
“The 88MW Ninh Thuan Wind Farm has proven our experience, determination and execution capability during the uncertainty of the pandemic. [This transformed the region] into Vietnam’s largest salt and renewable energy economic zone, while contributing to the country’s sustainable economic development, environmental protection and clean energy production for the future,” said BIM Group Deputy Chairman and CEO Huy Quoc Doan.
