Vietnam's PV Power gets govt approval for 2 gas-fired energy plants

PetroVietnam Power Corp, or PV Power, has been granted government approval to build two gas-fired electricity plants in southern Vietnam at a total cost of nearly $1.5 billion, its parent company said on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian country is developing a wave of new power plants to support economic growth that is among the strongest in Asia.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has given the go-ahead for the two facilities in the province of Dong Nai, state oil firm PetroVietnam, which holds a 51 percent stake in PV Power, said in a statement.

The Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 plants will have a combined capacity of 1,500 megawatts and will cost 33.3 trillion dong ($1.46 billion) to build, PetroVietnam said. They are scheduled to start power generation in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

PV Power, the second largest power producer in Vietnam after the state-run Vietnam Electricity group, said earlier this year that it was looking to sell 676.39 million shares, or a 28.9 percent stake, to strategic investors. The company’s shares were trading at 14,100 dong a piece on Thursday, potentially putting the value of the deal at $419 million.

The government raised $308 million selling a 20-percent stake in PV Power at an initial public offering in January.