Vietnam set to approve coal-fired power plants worth $7.5 bln

Vietnam set to approve coal-fired power plants worth $7.5 bln

Vietnam expects to grant investment licences for three coal-fired power
plants worth a combined $7.5 billion in early June, the country's investment
minister said.

Although Vietnam wants to boost renewable energy output amid resources
scarcity and environmental issues, it has been mostly reliant on coal-fired
and hydro power plants to meet its annual electricity demand growth of
around 11 percent.

The projects by Japanese, South Korean and Saudi Arabian investors are
expected to receive licences ahead of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan
Phuc's visit to Japan next month, investment minister Nguyen Chi Dung told
Reuters on Tuesday.

Details provided by the ministry showed South Korea's Taekwang Power
Holdings Co. and Saudi Arabia's ACWA Power would invest $2.07 billion for a
1,200-megawatt thermal power plant.

Each investor would have a 50-percent stake in the plant and commercial
operation is expected to start in 2021.

Japan's Marubeni Corp and Korea Electric Power Corp would invest $2.79
billion in a 1,200-megawatt plant, with operation expected to start in 2021.
The investors will also share half of the investment each.

Japan's Sumitomo Corp would invest about $2.64 billion into a 1,320-megawatt
plant, with an expected starting date of 2022, the ministry said.

Vietnam's energy demand is expected to grow 13 percent annually over the
next four years.

Coal-fired power, despite its environmental impacts, is still the dominant
power source for Vietnam. By 2030, over half of the country's power will
come from coal, adding 55,300MW to the national grid with 83 plants across
the country, according to the revised government Power Development Master
Plan VII.

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http://e.vnexpress.net/news/business/vietnam-set-to-approve-coal-fired-power
-plants-worth-7-5-bln-3590010.html

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com