BIM Wind Farm started commercial operation in Ninh Thuan province on September 30. Developed by BIM Wind, a joint venture between BIM Group and AC Energy from Philippines, it is a final phase of the project that transformed the region into the largest salt production and renewable energy complex in Vietnam covering an area of 2,500 hectares with a total investment of VND12 trillion.
15-year vision for Vietnam’s largest energy-salt production complex
In 2006, when realizing the potential of Ninh Thuan Province, BIM Group started to develop the Quan The clean salt farm, which is the largest in Southeast Asia with a production output of 300,000 tons per year. Apart from churning out high quality salt by applying modern production technology, the Quan The salt farm, together with the Ca Na and Tri Hai salt farms, have created jobs for hundreds of workers in the province and accounted for 60%-70% of Vietnam’s total salt output. This marked the first step of BIM Group’s strategy towards sustainable economic development in Ninh Thuan Province.
In 2020, the Politburo issued Resolution 55 on the strategy for national energy development to 2030 with a vision to 2045. The resolution plays an important role in the nation’s sustainable growth strategy in general and the development of renewable energy in particular.
“The Politburo’s directive further ascertained the right strategy towards sustainable development which BIM Group has been pursuing since its inception. We realized the natural potential and grasped such an opportunity for renewable energy development by optimizing land resources in Ninh Thuan Province, which boasts the biggest resources of wind and sunlight in Vietnam. It is an ideal location — where industrial salt is produced — to develop solar and wind power projects,” said Huy Quoc Doan, vice chairman and general director of BIM Group.
In April 2019, BIM Energy inaugurated its first cluster of solar power plants in Ninh Thuan Province with total capital of VND7 trillion. In 2020, the total capacity of the cluster reached 405 MW, one of the largest solar farm in Southeast Asia. Over one million solar panels turn out over 668 million kilowatt hours (kWh) of electricity each year, meeting the demand of 200,000 households. The cluster of three solar power plants has contributed over VND500 billion to the State budget and created nearly 200 jobs for laborers.
On September 30 this year, BIM Energy commissioned a VND3.11-trillion wind farm with a total capacity of 88 megawatts (MW). This is the second joint project of BIM Group and AC Energy following the 405 MW Ninh Thuan Solar farm. The BIM wind farm is set to generate 327 GWH per year of electricity a year, meeting the electricity demand of 50,000 households and helping reduce some 299,000 tons of carbon dioxide. The wind farm is connected with the national power grid through a 220-kV transmission line starting from the farm’s 220-kV transformer station to the 220-kV Quan The station.
88-MW wind farm put into commercial operation within 11 months
Erecting wind turbines and putting the wind farm into operation after just 11 months of construction is not an easy workload. Huu Hau Nguyen, director of the BIM wind farm project, said, “With the determination and experience in project management for the three previous solar power plants, we planned to launch the project while ensuring the progress and quality of work. The peak of the progress was when engineers and workers completed the installation of seven wind turbines within 18 days.”
To establish such a record, BIM Energy has established a team of experienced project managers in the renewable energy field and other heavy industries, including thermal power. These project managers have worked effectively with the world’s leading contractors such as General Electrics, one of the five most prestigious wind turbine suppliers worldwide, as well as with local partners. Power Construction No. 1 JSC (PCC1) assumed the role of installing transformer stations for the group’s wind farm, while Gia Viet was the contractor in Ninh Thuan Province that completed the construction of turbine foundations on schedule.
