AC Energy Corp. and the BIM Group announced Monday the start of commercial operations of their latest joint venture—the 88-megawatt Ninh Thuan wind farm in Vietnam.
AC Energy said in a statement the project brings its Vietnam renewable energy capacity to 1,000 MW in operation and under construction, making it the second largest market to date after the Philippines.
“We are very excited to bring this new project into commercial operations ahead of the feed-in-tariff deadline, notwithstanding the many challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Patrice Clausse, chief operating officer of AC Energy International.
Located in South Central Vietnam, the $155-million wind farm features 22 units of GE Renewable Energy’s Cypress turbines.
It is expected to generate 327 gigawatt-hours annually once fully operational, enough to power around 50,000 homes a year that can help avoid 298,551 tons of carbon dioxide.
This is the second joint project of ACEN and the BIM Group following the 405-MW Ninh Thuan solar farm, one of the largest in Southeast Asia.
The Ninh Thuan solar farm was inaugurated in 2019 and reached a significant milestone with one billion kilowatt-hour output.
The Ninh Thuan solar and wind projects are expected to generate around 900 million kilowatt-hours of renewable energy a year, establishing the joint venture’s strong support of Vietnam’s energy transition.
“As we continue to carve a niche for ourselves by developing some of the most notable renewable energy plants in Vietnam to date, we will continue to accelerate our investments in renewables in the country and aid in its goal to increase the share of renewables in their energy mix.” Clausse said.
AC Energy president and chief executive Eric Francia said the company is at the forefront of energy transition and identified Vietnam as one of its priority markets.
“The company currently has about 2,100 MW of renewables capacity, and is on track to attain its goal of 5,000 MW of renewables capacity by 2025, and become the largest renewables platform in Southeast Asia,” said Francia.
He lauded the Vietnam government’s strong commitment to renewable energy and for creating an “enabling environment for industry players such as ourselves to participate in the country’s thriving power sector.”
Huy Quoc Doan, deputy chairman and chief executive of BIM Group, said the Ninh Thuan wind farm proved the company’s experience, determination and execution capability even during the uncertainty of the pandemic.
“This is yet another successful partnership between the BIM Group and ACEN, following the cluster of 405 MW Ninh Thuan solar farm projects, which transformed the region into Vietnam’s largest salt and renewable energy economic zone, while contributing to the country’s sustainable economic development, environmental protection and clean energy production for the future,” the BIM official said.
AC Energy is the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group. It aspires is to be the largest listed renewables platform in Southeast Asia, with a goal of reaching 5,000 MW of renewables capacity by 2025.
BIM has operations spanning across all major provinces in Vietnam and Laos and is recognized as one of the leading business groups in Vietnam with roughly 5,000 employees.