Korean chaebol SK eyes 1.32 GW LNG-fired power plant plan

A consortium between Vietnam’s T&T Group and SK E&S, the renewable energy arm under South Korean chaebol SK, plans to deploy a 1,320-MW LNG-fired power plant in the central province of Quang Tri.

The project would take over the discontinued 1,320-MW Quang Tri coal-fired thermal power plant, the consortium said at a Wednesday meeting with Quang Tri authorities.

EGATi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, was named as the investor for the Quang Tri power plant in August 2013. The 1,320 MW plant, located in the province’s Southeast Economic Zone, was designed to run with two 660-MW turbines. Construction of the project began in November 2019, but little progress has been made since, amid the trend of renewable energy and emission reduction.

In September-October 2023, EGATi reported and signed documents with Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade and Quang Tri authorities for the termination of the $2.3-billion project.

In the latest proposal, T&T and SK E&S asked Quang Tri authorities to allow them to conduct research and survey the project, which will include an LNG terminal in Hai Lang district.

Welcoming the move, Quang Tri Chairman Vo Van Hung asked the consortium to draft and submit their plans to provincial authorities as soon as Quang Tri province completes administrative procedures to terminate the original coal-fired power plan.

Quang Tri province currently has 19 wind power, three solar power, and 10 hydropower projects connected to the national grid and under commercial operation with a total capacity of 1,090.7 MW. It also has 22 projects under construction that are part of the latest national power development plan VIII (PDP VIII).

In line with the PDP VIII, Quang Tri has proposed that the Prime Minister and the Ministry of Industry and Trade add 16,000 MW of electricity generation capacity to the province’s plan. This includes 4,600 of land-based wind power, 2,600 MW of offshore wind power, 1,600 MW of solar power, 4,500 of LNG-fired power, 2,500 MW of pumped-storage hydropower and 210 MW of biomass power and waste-to-power.