SK Group seeks to make coal-to-LNG conversion for 1,320 MW power plant in central Vietnam

Vietnamese conglomerate T&T Group and South Korea's SK E&S, the renewable energy arm under South Korean chaebol SK, seek to conduct coal-to-LNG conversion for the abolished 1,320 MW thermal power plant in Quang Tri province, to begin operating it in 2030.

A delegation of the consortium between T&T and SK E&S made the statement at a meeting with Quang Tri province on Thursday.

They urged Quang Tri province to soon work with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Government to add the power plant project to the under-amendment power development plan VIII (PDP VIII), with LNG as fuel.

The timely addition of the project to the amended PDP can help the consortium implement next steps of the project to start operation in 2030, they noted.

Addressing the meeting, Quang Tri's acting Chairman Ha Sy Dong said provincial authorities will soon work with the ministry to speed up the project.

In case approval is not given, Dong called on T&T and SK E&S to continue cooperating with Quang Tri as the province holds massive potential for energy development.

He also suggested T&T and SK E&S look into offshore wind power and mountain-based wind power prospects of the province.

EGATi, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, was approved as investor of the Quang Tri I power plant in August 2013. The 1,320 MW plant, located in the province’s Southeast Economic Zone, began construction in November 2019, but little progress has been made since.

In October 2022, Thailand's Ministry of Energy confirmed that EGATi would abandon the project, partly due to difficulties in capital arrangement and the two governments' commitments to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.

The project is now processing legal procedures for termination.

In April 2024, Quang Tri's Department of Planning and Investment agreed to let T&T and SK E&S to study the feasibility of coal-to-LNG conversion for the project.

In February 2025, Power Generation JSC 1 (EVNGENCO 1), a subsidiary of state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN), said it aims to invest in the $2.3 billion power project.