Palfinger makes moves in Vietnamese wind market

In Vietnam, 26 of Palfinger Marine’s fixed boom cranes are being put to work at two intertidal wind farms, Hiep Thanh and Binh Dai.

Palfinger sees Vietnam as a fast emerging wind energy market (Photo: Palfinger)

While Hiep Thanh, which is close to Tra Vinh province, has recently begun operations, the Binh Dai wind farm near Ben Tre province is expected to be commissioned in due time.

Hiep Thanh wind park features 19 wind turbines that are set to produce 295 gigawatts per year of renewable energy. This amount will be providing up to 180,000 Vietnamese households with energy.

Compared to offshore wind farms, intertidal wind farms like Hiep Thanh and Binh Dai use turbines from the land area to produce renewable energy.

With more than 3,000 kilometers of coastline and its high wind power potential, Vietnam is a fast-emerging hot spot for the global wind industry, the company said.

Crane requirements

Due to the low wave height requirements in the nearshore area, the requirements of the cranes provided by Palfinger differ as well. For this reason, the fixed boom cranes were tailored to the respective conditions around the wind farms. One deviating characteristic, for example, involves the cranes’ size, which is smaller compared to offshore wind cranes. The cranes will support in cargo and spare parts loading from crew transfer vessels (CTV) to the transition piece.

Gunther Fleck, VP of sales and service region marine at Palfinger said, “We are passionate to step foot on an emerging sector in a new market with our lifting solutions.”