IMPSA’s project gone with the wind

The reason is that IMPSA did not finish the administrative procedures to start investment within six months as promised back in 2011 when the people’s xommittee agreed in principle with the project. In a recent document signed by Deputy Chairman of the committee Pham Van Thuan, the committee asked the provincial Department of Planning and Investment to look for new investors to invest in this location – location no. 5 on Ninh Thuan’s wind power map.

IMPSA earlier proposed to the province a wind power project as well as a plant to produce parts of wind turbines with the total investment of between $2 billion and $3 billion. At end-2011, IMPSA asked to raise the area of the project to 1,000 hectares from the initially planned 600, and was allowed. Since then the company has made no more moves.

Earlier, in 2009 IMPSA also went to Binh Thuan to propose a $1.2 billion power plant and an part production factory worth $171 million. It also hasn’t done anything.

Argentinean company IMPSA provides comprehensive integrated hydro and wind solutions focused on Latin America, particularly on Brazil. IMPSA’s website hasn’t been updated since 2014. As of November 2015, according to windpowermonthly.com, IMPSA was in the process of negotiating with creditors to have $1 billion debts swapped into equity.

Ninh Thuan is considered very suitable for wind power development. As of now in the province there are 12 wind power projects in the master plan for wind power, but all of them are behind schedule. The Phuoc Nam –Enfinity renewable power project by Belgian company Enfinity, the Mui Dinh wind power project, South Korean company LandVille Energy’s wind power project and Malaysian wind power company Timur’s project, worth the total investment capital of $800 million, are examples.

Vietnam has incentives for wind power projects in terms of taxes and land use fees. But the feed-in tariff of 7.8 US cent per kWh guaranteed by the government, though higher than the price of electricity currently paid by users, is considered economically unfeasible. The Ministry of Industry and Trade once proposed a 10 US cent/kWh feed in tariff but the proposal has gone nowhere.

See more information on VIR print to be published on April 25