Climate Fund Managers (CFM), the manager of the Climate Investor One facility (CI1), has announced that construction has commenced of the 48MW near-shore wind farm in Tra Vinh province, Vietnam.
CI1’s Construction Equity Fund has committed $71 million to the project company, ‘Tra Vinh Wind Power Company’, which is jointly funded by Korean energy firm ST International. Vestas, the pioneering global supplier of wind turbines will act as EPC for the project.
As one of the fastest-growing Asian economies, the government of Vietnam is aware of the need to minimise the environmental footprint of their country’s growth. In pursuit of these goals, Vietnam has set significant renewable energy targets, aiming to rise from 0.3% renewable energy reliance in 2016 to 21% by 2030.
The Tra Vinh wind farm will assist Vietnam in meeting its rapidly growing energy demand, whilst supporting their ambition to move away from fossil fuel power in favour of renewable energy. The project is expected to avoid 68,600 tCO2 or equivalent annually, create 500 additional jobs, and serve over 132,500 people.
The collaboration makes use of ST International’s extensive knowledge of the Asian energy market, Vestas’s expertise in developing, constructing and operating wind power facilities, and CI1’s innovative end to end financing solution.
Andrew Johnstone, Climate Fund Managers CEO, stated: “The beginning of construction at the Tra Vinh wind farm represents a significant milestone for Climate Investor One. It is the first large scale development completed by CI1 in Asia, representing the culmination of two years of hard work, innovation, and development. The installation has several innovative features, and is already creating a positive impact at the local level through its community development programme, both hallmarks of CI1’s value contribution to the countries it operates in.”
Tommaso Rovatti Studihrad, Vestas sales director for South-East Asia said the following: “Partnering with CFM on this ground-breaking project enforces Vestas’ commitment to lead the wind energy transition and introduce further clean electricity generation in Vietnam”.
CI1 also enjoys support from the EU through its External Investment Plan, as part of its wider commitment to sustainable development and climate change mitigation, as well as cornerstone support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, Nordic Development Fund (NDF), Green Climate Fund (GCF), and USAID (via Power Africa).
