Corio Generation of Macquarie Group (Australia) proposed researching an offshore wind power plant project with a capacity of about 1,000MW at the total investment of between $2 billion and $3 billion in Hai Phong City.

The proposal was discussed in a meeting with the city's leaders and a delegation of the Australian Embassy and Australian investors seeking cooperation and investment opportunities in Hai Phong last week.

The business representative said that the project would have a capacity of about 1,000MW in 30 years and would be expected to meet about 50 per cent of the city's electricity demand, creating jobs for local workers.

Responding to the proposal of Corio Generation Company, the city's vice chairman of the City People's Committee Nguyen Duc Tho affirmed Hai Phong would always welcome partners to explore business investment opportunities for mutual development.

He said: "Wind power is still new so Hai Phong City will study and evaluate the aspects of capacity, prestige and economic efficiency to choose the most suitable investor," expecting the group would become the investor of choice in the near future.

Corio is a global offshore wind business and a portfolio company of Macquarie's Green Investment Group, operating on a standalone basis. The business has one of the world's largest offshore wind development portfolios at over 20 GW.

Earlier, the group signed a joint development agreement with FECON, a leading Vietnamese construction and infrastructure group, for a proposed 500 MW offshore windfarm in Ba Ria, Vung Tau Province.

The proposed 500 MW Ba Ria, Vung Tau offshore windfarm, located 23-35km from the coast, could be among the first large-scale offshore wind projects to be built in the country, once licences and approvals are obtained.

Once constructed, the fixed-bottom project could produce around 1,250 GWh of clean electricity and avoid more than 600,000 tonnes of carbon emissions a year, according to an analysis by the Green Investment Group. — VNS