Equinor closes shop and exits Vietnam’s offshore wind market

Norwegian energy giant Equinor has decided to close its Hanoi office and pull out of Vietnam’s offshore wind market.

This move comes amid political turmoil within the country, a power struggle within the Communist Party of Vietnam, its recent tilt towards China, and Equinor’s regular review of its portfolio of renewable assets.

This also marks the first time Equinor has closed an international office solely focused on offshore wind. It has, however, withdrawn from fossil fuel projects in more than a dozen countries to concentrate on renewable energy.

Vietnam currently has no offshore wind projects but has set a target for 6GW of installed offshore wind by 2030. These targets were set to reduce coal usage and reach net zero carbon emissions by the middle of the century.

On its website, Equinor described the country as having a “high potential to become an interesting growth market for offshore wind” and stated that it had “among the best wind resources in Asia”.

Despite this enormous potential, offshore wind projects in Vietnam face legal uncertainties which last year forced Danish offshore wind giant Ørsted to pause its multi-gigawatt offshore wind plans in the country.