Co-developers The Blue Circle and AC Energy have placed an order for GE Renewable Energy’s Cypress turbines for a 40MW wind project in south Vietnam.
GE will supply eight of its GE 5MW-158 model for the second phase of the Mui Ne project in South Vietnam.
Despite the general suspension of master plan approvals in Vietnam related to the new Planning Law implementation, The Blue Circle has succeeded in securing the land and grid connection for the Project in a “difficult context”.
The Blue Circle chief executive Olivier Duguet said: “The Binh Thuan province is a very complex and challenging environment to implement a wind power project.
“We are now extending the Mui Ne project with a second 40MW phase to be commissioned in 2021.”
AC Energy chief operating officer Patrice Clausse said: “This latest addition to the Mui Ne project is a significant stride towards AC Energy’s 2025 goal of reaching 5GW of renewables capacity in the Philippines and around the region.
“We have strongly pushed for the adoption of new technologies and best practices to grow our assets in renewables with the continuous support to pursue innovation from partners like The Blue Circle.”
The turbines will have the largest rotor diameter for an onshore project in Asia, at 158 metres, and Mui Ne will be the first project in the region where blades are transported in two pieces before being assembled on site.
AC Energy, through its wholly-owned subsidiary, AC Energy Vietnam Investments 2, will participate in the project with a 50% voting stake. GE Vietnam will service the turbines for up to 15 years, and The Blue Circle will manage operations through an asset management services contract.
The Mui Ne wind project site has a total expansion potential of up to 170MW in one of the best wind resource areas in continental Vietnam.
The project’s estimated cost is around $80m (€73m), which will be financed by debt and equity, and it is also planning to qualify for the wind feed-in-tariff of 8.5 US cents per kilowatt hour.
GE onshore wind regional sales leader Deepak Maloo said: “The Blue Circle and its partner AC Energy are one of the premier renewable energy companies in the Asia Pacific, and we are thrilled they’ve selected our brand-new Cypress platform turbines.
“GE remains deeply committed to Vietnam’s energy future. Our 5MW Cypress turbines are ideally suited to make the best use of the Vietnam’s tremendous wind energy potential.”
The Blue Circle chief construction officer Herve Grillot added, “This technology is a game-changer for onshore sites as it will allow larger capacity machines, lowering our cost of energy and enhancing competitiveness of wind energy.”
AC Energy is the power generation arm of Philippine conglomerate Ayala Corporation.