Petrovietnam to complete $1.5 bln Long Phu 1 thermal power plant in 2027

State-owned energy giant Petrovietnam aims to restart the idling Long Phu 1 thermal power project, located in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, and complete it in 2027, according to the draft amendments to the power development plan VIII (PDP VIII).

Petrovietnam was assigned as investor of the $1.5 billion coal-fired power project in 2010. In 2014, Petrovietnam signed deals to assign Russia’s Power Machine and its technical arm Petrovietnam Technical Service Corporation (PTSC) as engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contractors.

In January 2018, when the project reached 78% completion, the United States had deployed sanctions against Russia due to the Crimea issues, leading to challenges in project implementation. In March 2019, Power Machine stopped construction activities at the project site.

According to the ministry’s document, Petrovietnam is restarting the project and amending the project’s feasibility study.

Long Phu 1 is one of five under-construction coal-fired power plants in Vietnam, the ministry noted. The others are the 1,330 MW Vung Ang II, 110 MW Na Duong II, 1,403 MW Quang Trach I, and 650 MW An Khanh-Bac Giang.

Meanwhile, five projects are facing challenges, namely the 600 MW Cong Thanh, 1,200 MW Nam Dinh I, 1,320 MW Quang Tri, 1,980 MW Vinh Tan III, and 2,120 MW Song Hau II.

The Cong Thanh is waiting for approval to use LNG as feedstock, while Quang Tri, Vinh Tan III, and Song Hau II have stopped or do not have any investor yet. Nam Dinh I is progressing to begin construction later this year.