PV Power speeds up work to first-fire nation's first LNG power plants

PV Power, the power generation arm of state-owned energy giant Petrovietnam, has accelerated construction of the country’s first two LNG-fired power plants for their soon “first-fire.”

Costs of unfinished constructions for the Nhon Trach 3 and 4 gas-fed power plants in the southern province of Dong Nai jumped to VND15,980 billion ($632.2 million) as of June 30, compared to VND10,802 billion as of March 31 and nearly doubling that at the end of 2023, the firm’s consolidated financial statements show.

Towards expediting the work, PV Power has increased short-term borrowings, including from Vietcombank, Citibank, BIDV, VietinBank, Citibank-INGBank, and Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited.

Its short-term borrowings jumped 113.7% from end-2023 to VND10,401 billion ($411.35 million) as of June 30.

The investment in the two power plants has taken its total assets value to VND80,919 billion ($3.2 billion) at the end of June, up from VND72,550 billion at the end of March. Its assets value climbed VND10,557 billion ($417.5 million) between January and June.

As of end-June, the 1,600-MW project had completed 88.6% of its EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract and 98.7% of the procurement, PV Power CEO Le Nhu Linh said at a Monday meeting .

The corporation is aiming to first-fire the Nhon Trach 3 plant in September, he added.

PV Power earned a consolidated net profit of VND678.35 billion ($26.83 million) in H1/2024, up 2.8% year-on-year, according to its quarterly financial statement.

Its revenue during the period slipped 1.28% year-on-year to VND15,650 billion ($619 million).

Shares of PV Power, listed on the Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange as POW, closed Tuesday down 1.5% at VND13,400 ($0.53) apiece.