Japan, Korea, Thailand firms compete for $2.4 bln LNG power project

Companies from Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam have filed bids to build the $2.4 billion Nghi Son LNG-fired power complex in the central province of Thanh Hoa.

The five bidders are Japan’s Jera and Vietnamese local firm Sovico; Korean companies KOSPO, KOGAS, Daewoo E&C, and Vietnamese firm Anh Phat Investment Construction - Trading JSC; Thailand’s Gulf Energy; South Korea’s SK E&S; and Petrovietnam Power with Hanoi-based T&T Group.

The 1,500-MW plant is an important, prioritized project in the latest national power development plan VIII (PDP VIII).

The project, covering 68.2 hectares to the south of Nghi Son seaport, is envisaged to begin commercial operations before 2030, according to report discussed at a Wednesday meeting of authorities in the central province.

The project comprises a 1.5 GW LNG-fired power factory, a terminal for importing LNG and supporting facilities, a 230,000 cubic meter LNG storage tank, a regasification station with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons, and pipelines for delivering 1.2 million tons a year.

The management board of the Nghi Son Economic Zone and Industrial Parks said it would begin the process of selecting project investors in the second quarter of this year.

Do Trong Hung, chief of Thanh Hoa's Party Committee, directed relevant agencies to conduct the bidding process in a fair and transparent manner. This is the third-biggest project in the central province, after the Nghi Son oil refinery and Nghi Son thermal power plant, he noted.