Korean giant SK eyes LNG-fired power plant in central Vietnam province Nghe An

Korean chaebol SK Group on Tuesday disclosed its implementation plan for the $2.2 billion Quynh Lap LNG-fired power project in a meeting with Nghe An province leaders.

The firm is one of those having showed interest in this 1,500 MW project, set to be located in Quynh Lap commune, Nghe An's Hoang Mai township.

SK Innovation E&S vice president Youngwook Yoo introduced the plan to Vice Chairman of Nghe An province Phung Thanh Vinh. Details of the plan were not published.

Quynh Lap has been included in the national power development plan VIII (PDP VIII) as a prioritized project. It will comprise an LNG-fired power plant, a gas storage facility, an LNG terminal that can receive ships of about 100,000 DWT, and a dyke.

The complex will have an LNG input of about 1.15 million tons a year. It is expected to begin commercial operations before 2030.

At the meeting, Youngwook Yoo also briefed the hosts on another project that aims to support industrial development in Vietnam through smart energy-industrial clusters (SEIC) in potential areas.

He said in Vietnam’s north-central region, SK plans to invest in an AI/high-tech energy-industrial cluster in Nghe An and Thanh Hoa provinces under a model inspired by South Korea's Ulsan city.

For his part, Vinh said Nghe An is among the 10 provinces with highest power demand in Vietnam, and the implementation of the Quynh Lap LNG-to-power project is "extremely urgent" to ensure energy security for the province and the region.

He informed SK about the province's preparations for organizing the bidding to select investors for the Quynh Lap project, and asked the provincial Department of Industry and Trade to provide relevant information for SK.

In October 2024, Nghe An received dossiers from five investors proposing to develop the Quynh Lap LNG-to-power project.

They include a consortium of PV Power, Nghe An Sugar LLC, and SK E&S Co., Ltd; Power Generation Corporation 1 (EVNGENCO 1); South Korea’s Posco International and Trung Nam Construction Investment JSC; Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation; a consortium comprising Viet Thanh Bamboo Energy Investment JSC and Qatar’s Gulf Petroleum Limited.

Nghe An is now home to 25 projects from South Korea, with total registered capital of about $200 million.

In the first quarter, the province granted in-principle approvals or investment registration certificates to 10 projects with a combined value of VND2.22 trillion ($85.84 million). Additionally, 38 projects were adjusted, including 10 projects with capital increases totaling VND4.49 trillion ($173.57 million).

Of the total, three newly licensed projects totally worth $55 million and four existing projects with total capital expansion of $56.9 million are foreign-invested.

SK is a diversified conglomerate operating across multiple sectors, including chemicals, telecommunications, oil and gas, and energy. With a market capitalization nearing $200 billion, it is the second-largest group in South Korea and among the top 100 largest conglomerates worldwide.

By mid-February this year, SK had invested $3.5 billion in Vietnam, including top Vietnamese businesses Vingroup, Masan, Imexpharm, and a $500-million biodegradable plastic factory.

SK Group seeks to jointly build LNG-fired power plants in Vietnam and then develop facilities utilizing electricity generated by those power plants, the group's chairman Chey Tae Won said at a Friday meeting with Minister of Planning and Investment Nguyen Chi Dung in mid February.

SK eyes collaboration in some LNG-fired power projects and an artificial intelligence (AI)-innovation center. It also aims to build a hydrogen-logistics-innovation center and an eco-friendly agriculture-innovation center, he added.

Vietnamese conglomerate T&T Group and SK E&S, the renewable energy arm under SK Group, also seek to conduct coal-to-LNG conversion for the abolished 1,320 MW thermal power plant in the central province of Quang Tri, to begin operating it in 2030.