GE Renewable Energy has won orders totalling 60MW for its ultra-large onshore Cypress wind turbine in the red-hot Vietnamese market, with the US OEM to supply 12 of its 5MW-158 machines to the Quoc Vinh Soc Trang and Lac Hoa Soc Trang projects in the Mekong Delta.

The contract wins follow breakthrough deals in the South-East Asia country earlier this year for the 5MW Cypress from Blue Circle and AC Energy – a unit of Philippines conglomerate Ayala – which will use the turbine for the 40MW second phase of a project in south Vietnam.

PowerChina Huadong Engineering will provide engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services for Quoc Vinh Soc Trang and Lac Hoa Soc Trang.

The Mekong Delta has been the epicenter of a recent wind power boom, both for regular onshore wind farms, and for intertidal projects.

GE rivals Vestas and Siemens Gamesa both have announced a series of orders in the South-East Asian country lately, with Vestas already surpassing 1GW in orders in Vietnam.

“These two new deals in Vietnam with PowerChina reiterate their confidence in our capabilities,” said Gilan Sabatier, regional leader for GE Renewable Energy’s onshore wind business in South Asia and ASEAN.

“Growing this partnership reinforces the escalating importance of renewable energy in Vietnam and our commitment to serving the energy needs of the country… . These commitments reinforce the leading position of our Cypress turbine platform in delivering best LCOE [levellised cost of energy] for our customers in Vietnam.”

GE kick-started the wind power development in Vietnam by building a wind turbine components plant in Hai Phong in 2009 in northern Vietnam, and supplying the Bac Lieu near-shore project in the Mekong Delta that grew into a 99MW array.

In 2016, the turbine maker signed a deal with Ireland’s Mainstream Renewable Power to supply turbines for the 800MW Phu Cuong wind project.

The Socialist Republic of Vietnam and its former foe, the US, only re-opened trade in the 1990s, which had been severed during the Vietnam War that ended in 1975 and left an estimated 2-5 million Vietnamese dead, along with more than 58,000 US soldiers.

Wind

GE pushes further into red-hot Vietnamese wind play with 5MW Cypress deals