Legal hurdles delay in-principle approval for $2.15 bln Quynh Lap LNG-fired power plant in central Vietnam

Nghe An province's Department of Finance has proposed extending the deadline for the Quynh Lap LNG-fired power project to fulfill in-principle approval procedures, citing recent changes to legal regulations.

In a report submitted to the provincial People’s Committee, the department said that it has completed all works related to legal groundwork, procedural documentation, appraisal opinions, and appraisal feedback, in line with the law.

However, it noted, while finalizing an appraisal report for the People’s Committee to grant the project in-principle approval, the National Assembly – the country's legislature - on June 25, 2025 passed the Law No. 90/2025/QH15, effective from July 1.

The law amends and supplements several articles of the Law on Bidding, the Law on Public-Private Partnership, the Law on Customs, the Law on Value-Added Tax, the Law on Export and Import Duties, the Law on Investment, the Law on Public Investment, and the Law on Management and Use of Public Assets.

It provides no transitional provisions for projects under the jurisdiction of provincial people’s committees that are undergoing procedures for in-principle approval but have yet to receive such a approval.

In addition, the finance department lacks a legal basis to make assessments as the government has yet to issue a decree for detailed guidance.

Therefore, it proposed extending the project's deadline for completing in-principle approval procedures. It also proposed that once the government issues the detailed decree, a report will be submitted to the provincial People’s Committee for approval - provided there are no changes to the application documents and appraisal contents that have been done under the old Law on Investment.

In case of changes, the department will coordinate with relevant agencies to update the appraisal in accordance with current regulations and report to the committee for approval.

The $2.15 billion power project is drawing significant interest from both international and domestic investors. It is one of 14 priority gas-fired power projects included in the National Power Development Plan VIII, set for investment through 2030.

The plant will have a total capacity of 1,500 MW with two 750 MW turbines, utilizing combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) technology.

The project also includes an LNG import terminal, storage, regasification facilities, and synchronized technical infrastructure. It is expected to import approximately 1.15 million tons of LNG annually.

The plant is projected to begin commercial operations before 2030. Once operational, it will be connected to the national grid via the 500 kV Quang Trach-Quynh Luu-Thanh Hoa transmission line or may alternatively connect to the Nghi Son LNG-fired power plant.

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.

The finance department has recently proposed that the People’s Committee instruct the provincial public administration service center to temporarily suspend the receipt of applications for in-principle approval.

The department said application intake and project appraisal should resume only after the government issues regulations on the required documents and appraisal contents as stipulated in the Law on Investment.