HANOI (Reuters) - U.S.-based energy utility AES (NYSE:AES) Corp plans to develop a major offshore wind farm in Vietnam, the Southeast Asian country said on Friday, that could potentially double the country's wind power capacity.
The wind farm, estimated to cost $13 billion and with a combined capacity of 4,000 megawatts (MW), would be built off Vietnam's central province of Binh Thuan, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said in a statement.
AES did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
The country currently has about 4,000 MW of wind capacity and wants to install 11,700 MW by 2030 and 66,000 MW by 2045, according to state media.
AES submitted a letter of intent to develop the project to a Vietnamese energy delegation during an annual Vietnam-U.S. energy security dialogue in Washington earlier this week, the ministry said.
Hydrogen, power storage and nuclear energy were also discussed at the dialogue, the statement added.
Vietnam, a regional manufacturing hub, is seeking to boost renewable energy development and reduce its reliance on coal for power generation, following a pledge it made last year alongside other major users of the dirty fossil fuel to become carbon-neutral by 2050.
The ministry this week asked the government to remove future coal-fired power projects with a combined capacity of 14,120 MW from a draft national master power development plan.