A cluster of seven wind turbines towering above shrimp ponds and banana trees in Vietnam’s Ben Tre province should have been feeding clean power into the grid by now. Instead, they’ve sat idle for months and become a symbol of the red tape that’s plaguing the development of green electricity in the country.
The stalled wind farm in the Mekong Delta region is one of around 60 delayed projects across the country. There are 3.5 gigawatts of turbines that have either been built but are sitting idle, or are still under construction. That’s enough to power 4.4 million households in the fast-developing economy that’s become a manufacturing base for the likes of Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co.
