Mr. Craig Chittick - Australian Ambassador to Vietnam also attended the meeting.
At this first high-level meeting between EVN and Macquarie Capital, Mr. John Walker expressed his expectation that this would be an important prerequisite for the development of a bilateral cooperation in the future.
Macquarie Capital has thoroughly researched, highly valued the wind energy potential and wished to invest in an offshore wind power project in Vietnam. Macquarie Capital affirmed their expectation of long-term investment in Vietnam and wished to receive EVN’s support in this journey.
Delegation of Macquarie Capital Asia and Australian Embassy in Vietnam worked at EVN
Mr. John Walker emphasized that Macquarie Capital would not only invest in a single project, but also like to act as a developer in Vietnam. Macquarie Capital desired to cooperate with EVN in building a wind power ecosystem, including lobbying for policy development, clarifying financial efficiency of wind power investments, transferring technology, developing stable and effective grid-connected wind turbine systems, etc.
From EVN’s side, President and CEO Tran Dinh Nhan confirmed that EVN would warmly welcome and support Macquarie Capital's wind power development investment plan. Currently, Vietnam has been promoting the development of renewable energy sources to meet electricity demand for socio-economic development.
EVN’s President and CEO Tran Dinh Nhan also remarked that in order to facilitate the absorption of project’s output in the future, Macquarie Capital should carefully consider the site selection of wind power project, avoiding areas where a lot of renewable energy projects have been densely installed. EVN is willing to coordinate and support in the process of project development, construction and operation in the most effective way.
During the past time, Macquarie Group has invested more than USD 500 million in offshore wind power projects all over the world. In Asia, Macquarie Capital has developed a 500MW wind power plant in Taiwan (Taiwan's first offshore wind project).