Hanoi (VNA) – Somemajor businesses of Denmark and Norway have expressed their specialinterest in developing offshore wind power in Vietnam during recent meetingswith officials of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT).

At the 26th UnitedNations Conference on Climate Change (COP26) held in the UK last November, Vietnamcommitted to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

Talking to Danish Chargéd’Affaires, a.i. Troels Jakobsen and Executive Vice President and CEO of the Orstedgroup Martin Neubert, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien said offshore windpower development is highly significant since it can be combined with the realisation ofsocio-economic growth, energy security, and industrialisation targets towardslow-carbon emissions and net zero emissions by 2050.

He expressed his hope thatOrsted, which is the world’s biggest offshore wind power developer, will shareits experience in this field so as to help Vietnam carry out effective energytransition projects that suit local development demand.

Neubert said his group viewsVietnam as a new and also important market. It opened an office in the countryin December 2020 with the hope of making more concrete contributions to theformation of an offshore wind power industry in Vietnam.

The firm is building a planon launching the industry in Vietnam through two projects it is implementing incoordination with the T&T Group, he went on, noting that through its concreteactivities and objectives, Orsted hopes to accompany the Vietnamese Governmentduring the realisation of the COP26 commitments.

Equinor, a large energybusiness of Norway, also showed its attention to the local sector.

Addressing a working sessionwith Deputy Minister Dang Hoang An, an Equinor official said it has opened arepresentative office in Hanoi, which affirmed Norway’s readiness anddetermination to contribute to Vietnam’s offshore wind power development, greentransition, and implementation of the commitments in the Paris Agreement on climatechange and at COP26.

Equinor recently cooperatedwith the MoIT to study the development of an offshore wind power supply chain. Thisstudy’s results were handed over to the MoIT in October 2021.

In March 2021, it also signeda memorandum of understanding with the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam)to assess the feasibility of cooperation in developing offshore wind power andrenewable energy.

In the draft National PowerDevelopment Plan VIII, Vietnam looks to develop 16,121 MW of onshore andinshore wind power, along with about 7,000 MW of the offshore one by 2030. Windpower is set to make up 15.8 percent of the capacity of the electricitygeneration system, including 4.8 percent from offshore wind power./.