GE wind farm project in Vietnam to ease power shortages

GE has signed a contract with local developer Cong Ly Company Ltd. to provide 10 of its 1.6-82.5 wind turbines and operations and maintenance services for phase one of the Bac Lieu Wind Farm, totaling 16 megawatts of power generation capacity. Cong Ly Company Ltd. also has plans for a second phase, which would add up to 120 megawatts of power, and help resolve the country’s chronic power shortages. The project will bring clean power generation to Vietnam’s Mekong Delta and also is expected to create a number of local jobs during the construction phase. “This will be the first large-scale industrial/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. “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.” Located about 200 kilometers southwest of Ho Chi Minh City, the Bac Lieu project will be the first wind farm in the Mekong Delta. It will be designed to protect the environment of the region, which is known as the “rice basket” of the country and accounts for the largest amount of Vietnam’s seafood exports. (July 14, 2011)