Bac Lieu wind farm comes on line

The wind farm is the second in the country to be connected to the national grid.The first wind power project began operating in April of last year in central Binh Thuan Province.

Work on the first phase of the Bac Lieu project, with installation of 10 wind turbines totalling 16 MW, was completed after nearly three years of construction, according to the Bac Lieu-based Cong Ly Construction and Trading Co Ltd.

Cong Ly Co invested VND2 trillion (US$95.2 million) in the first phase of the wind-power project, which can generate 56 million kWh per year.

The project’s 62 wind turbines, provided by US company General Electric (GE), have a capacity of 1.6 megawatts each. They will help generate 320 million kWh per year.

All the wind turbines, which have total output of 99.2 MW, will become operational in June 2014, the company said.

Cong Ly Co will invest a total of VND5.2 trillion ($247.5 million) in the project, which is located on 500ha in Vinh Trach Dong Commune in Bac Lieu City.

Capital for the project is sourced from loans provided by the US Import and Export Bank.

This is the first wind-power project in the Mekong Delta.