It is some 20 kilometers between the Bac Lieu city’s center and the wind power plant, the first one of its kind in Mekong Delta. The nearer the sea is, the more strongly the wind blows.
It is some 20 kilometers between the Bac Lieu city’s center and the wind power plant, the first one of its kind in Mekong Delta. The nearer the sea is, the more strongly the wind blows.
“The land is rich in shrimp, fish, mangrove, and wind as well,” said Lam Vol, Head of the Bien Dong A hamlet and smiled. “In the childhood, we all could play with the sea wind. But we did not know that the sea wind could also generate power”.
The first wind power in Mekong Delta is located in Bien Dong A hamlet of Vinh Trach Dong commune in Bac Lieu City of Bac Lieu province. The plant, once operational, slated for early 2012, will have the capacity of 99.2 MW. The investor of the power plant is Cong Ly Trade and Tourism Company, a 100 percent Vietnamese owned company, which injects 4500 billion dong in the project.
One can see the wind power plant if standing on the Giap Ranh bridge and casting an eye at the sea. Far on the sea, there is an imposing turbine with three large propellers. This is one of the 10 first wind turbines in the first phase of the Bac Lieu wind power plant project. In the second phase, 52 turbines would be installed by 2013. By that time, a completed harmonized complex would take shape on the area of 500 hectares.
Every turbine can work independently, generating the power current with the capacity of 1.6MW. This means that the total 62 turbines would be able to generate 99.2MW. The power output is expected to reach 310 KHW per annum.
The project’s management board has revealed that the first five turbines of the plant would be completed by early 2012. By that time, the power to be generated by the plant would be able to join the national grid.
Dozens of lighters were seen docking around the turbine pillar which helped complete the construction of the foundation. About 100 workers worked day and night at the technical supervision of foreign experts.
A canal on the sea with the length of 1.5 kilometers caught the attention of visitors. The canal helped engineers and workers to reach to the construction site with canoes, when the tide goes down.
Next to the canal, one could see a bridge, made of cajuput, the one that is called the “longest cajuput-made bridge in Vietnam,” with the length of one kilometer. The cajuput bridge would serve when the canal gets depleted, workers would still be able to go to turbines pillars to work.
On the earth, the operation area of the wind power plant, covering an area of 10 hectares, is taking shape, which includes offices, workshops, communication center and cables.
Looking at the turbine propellers which turned slowly high up on the blue sky, a visitor asked: “Why do they turn so slowly? Will it be able to generate enough power?”
“Of course they can. Foreign experts said after one year of surveying that there is strong and stable wind on the Bac Lieu coast, which is good for long term power generation,” said Huynh Anh Minh, a engineer in charge of technical issues.
“Once becoming operational, the plant would help reduce the greenhouse gas emission by 190,000 tons of CO2 per annum,” Minh said.
The wind turbines used at the power plant are made and installed by the US General Electric. The turbine pole is made of stainless steel, 80 meters in height and 4 meters in diameters. The turbines are located on the places about 300-1000 meters far from the coastline.
Every turbine has three propellers, each of which has the length of 42 meters, made of special plastics. There is an operation system which allows the propellers automatically bend in order to avoid unexpected storms.
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