Vestas clinched its largest ever order in Vietnam, bringing its tally to more than 300MW so far this year in a market its regional chief recently labelled “Southeast Asia’s most interesting”.

The Danish wind giant will transport and install 144MW of its V150 machines in 4MW operating mode for Japanese renewables developer Renova, for deployment at three projects in remote, mountainous sites.

The wind farms, due to enter service in the third quarter of 2021, are part of a development dash in Vietnam to beat a deadline for feed-in tariff (FIT) support that expires in October next year.

Vestas Asia-Pacific president Clive Turton told Recharge in an interview earlier in May that he sees Vietnam as “for sure the most interesting market in Southeast Asia right now … there really is good quality wind, and there are good opportunities”.

The wind OEM believes the nation could eventually grow to a 24GW market, up from less than 400MW at the end of last year.

The government’s official 2030 wind target is 6GW, but the industry is certain much more will be needed to reduce Vietnam’s large coal-fired power base.

As well as onshore projects, Vestas has secured business in the inter-tidal market in the Mekong Delta.