Vietnam to build $3.3-bln gas power plant in central province

By Anh Minh   February 28, 2019 | 07:27 pm PT
Vietnam to build $3.3-bln gas power plant in central province
An employee of Vietnam Electricity works in the southern Binh Duong Province. Photo by VnExpress/Thanh Nguyen
A gas-fired power plant will be built in the central Quang Ngai Province and it will go on stream in 2023.

The Dung Quat Power Plant is estimated to cost $3.3 billion, Le Van Luc, deputy head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s department of electricity and renewable energy, said at an event Thursday.

It will have three 750 MW turbines and space for a fourth if needed.

The three turbines are expected to supply over 13 billion kilowatt hours a year to the central region grid and can also contribute to the southern region.

Two of the turbines will be installed by Vietnam Electricity, state-owned power producer and monopoly distributor, and the third by Singaporean utility Sembcorp Industries Ltd under build-operate-transfer mode.

Luc said the plant would use gas from the Blue Whale field in the South China Sea, known as the East Sea in Vietnam.

Fifty of the 93 hectares of land required for the plant have been acquired. The construction schedule has yet to be determined.

Vietnam’s robust economic growth means its power needs have increased sharply in recent years. But it has been struggling to develop its energy industry since its hydropower potential is almost fully exploited and oil and gas reserves are running low.

The World Bank has estimated Vietnam’s electricity demand to grow by around 8 percent a year for the next decade, and said it would need to invest $150 billion by 2030 to develop its energy sector.

 
 
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