Singapore-based energy developer Enterprize Energy is progressing its proposed 3.4 GW Thang Long wind project offshore Vietnam after hiring geo-data specialist Fugro to install floating LiDAR survey technology at the site to assess resource over its acreage.
Significantly, this will be the first time such technology has been used in Vietnam and the announcement marks the next step in the surveying process for Thang Long.
Thang Long is the only large-scale offshore wind project to be granted a survey licence by the Vietnamese government to date.
“Offshore wind in Vietnam is increasingly recognised as the primary route to decarbonising the country’s energy supply, with its southern waters ranked in the top 10% of global wind locations,” said Enterprize Energy.
However, so far there are few offshore wind developers currently positioned in Vietnam as the Southeast Asia nation works towards a target of 42% wind power by 2045.
“In 2018, Enterprize Energy brought the potential of offshore wind energy off the coast of the Binh Thuan Province to the attention of the Vietnamese government, with a focus on accessing the best resource and identifying opportunities for grid stability solutions such as hydrogen storage,” said the low-carbon energy developer.
The installation of floating LiDAR marks the next step in the surveying process for Thang Long. So far, a full year of wind data measurements have been collected via fixed LiDAR to assess resource over Enterprize’s allocated area, with reconnaissance surveys to support the project team’s understanding of geological and seabed features occurring earlier this year. Based on initial results, Enterprize Energy has confirmed there will be no reduction in prospective area due to unsuitable seabed features such as basalt intrusions.
Enterprize Energy has engaged Fugro and its local partner, PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), to deploy Fugro’s ‘SEAWATCH Wind LiDAR Buoy’ to collect detailed wind resource, meteorological, and oceanographic data across the 2000 square km project site over the next 12 months. The technology will track air pressure, humidity, air and water temperature, wave height and current, with support from a guard vessel which will also track fishery activity and supplementary ocean data from its own onboard sensors.
“The data the team will collect is central to informing the next stages in Thang Long’s development process, including long-term financial modelling and power purchase agreements,” said Ian Hatton, chairman, Enterprize Energy.
“The results from our initial marine survey demonstrate that, as we had predicted during our proposal for a survey license, most of the seabed throughout the Thang Long Zone is suitable for placing turbines. Now, we can quantify how much energy can be generated throughout the project based on using all the seabed we initially planned to build on,” added Hatton.
The first 600MW phase of the 3.4GW Thang Long offshore wind farm is due to come online by the end of 2025, with further phases developed on a rolling basis, said Enterprize Energy.
Enterprize Energy is working towards getting its proposed scheme included in Vietnam’s national power development plan. This would be a major step towards getting final investment approval with a view to starting electricity generation by late 2025 and becoming fully operational in 2028 as previously reported by Energy Voice.
The offshore wind market in Asia is expected to experience massive expansion over the next five to 10 years, particularly in the more advanced economies of Taiwan, Japan and South Korea, as governments face increasing pressure to focus on climate change and hit their net-zero emissions targets.