COPENHAGEN Infrastructure Partners (CIP), together with partners Asiapetro and Novasia, has signed a memorandum of understanding with Binh Thuan People’s Committee to develop a 3.5GW wind project off the coast of Vietnam.

The signing took place during the Vietnam Energy Summit 2020 High-level Forum, and was attended by high-ranking Vietnamese government officials.

Asiapetro Petroleum Energy Corporation and Novasia Energy Company are both based in Vietnam.

CIP is a leading global investor in offshore wind and has raised over US$10 billion across several renewable energy focused funds, including the most recent, CI IV, which is set to become the world’s largest renewable energy fund.

The La Gan project investment will be made via its CI New Markets Fund I. With this fund, CIP is managing a fund specifically targeted at the fast growing major new economies and with a current strong focus on Vietnam.

With an estimated capex of up to US$10 billion, the project is expected to create significant income and jobs for both Binh Thuan and Vietnam. A successful cooperation between CIP, Asiapetro, Novasia and Binh Thuan province on this project could also serve as a precedent for attracting other foreign investors in offshore wind projects in Vietnam.

"Findings from the cooperation between the Danish Energy Agency and the Vietnamese Electricity and Renewable Energy Authority emphasize that Vietnam has a technical potential of 160GW offshore wind, which puts Vietnam at the forefront of most coveted prospective offshore wind markets," the Danish Ambassador to Vietnam, Kim Højlund Christensen said at the signing ceremony. "We wish to continue sharing Danish knowledge, know-how and our cutting-edge technologies with Vietnam to support Vietnam in realizing a green transition in a cost-effective way."

With an expected capacity of 3.5GW, the La Gan offshore wind project will provide Vietnam with access to the most advanced and modern wind-power technology and support Vietnam’s transition to a power system with a high ratio of renewable energy integration and low carbon emission.

CIP is a pioneer in the offshore wind industry across the Asia-Pacific with projects in Vietnam, Taiwan, Korea, Japan and Australia.

The project partners are already fully engaged in the project development in close collaboration with the Binh Thuan region and national government authorities, preparing a final investment decision after inclusion of the project into the Power Development Plan of Vietnam.

The first phase of the Vietnam Denmark Energy Partnership Programme started in 2013, and focused on support to Vietnam in the area of energy efficiency. The second phase of the programme, from 2017 to 2020, has focused on building capacity for Vietnamese partner agencies in long-term energy planning, operation of the power system with a high ratio of renewable energy integration, and low carbon transition in energy efficiency for the industrial sector.

CIP is a Danish developer and investment firm specialized in the energy infrastructure sector. The company was established in 2012 and has offices in Copenhagen, New York, London, Utrecht and Tokyo.

The firm has seven funds with more than US$10 billion in commitment under management. The funds have currently made more than 20 investments in large scale energy infrastructure assets, totalling almost 8GW in capacity across the US, the UK, Germany, Spain and Taiwan. In addition, more than 15 greenfield energy infrastructure projects are in process to reach final investment decision and start of construction within the next 2-3 years.