Southern Vietnam diesel oil-fueled power plant begins renovation to switch to using gas

Investor EVNGENCO2 under Vietnam's state utility EVN and contractor LIGEPS last week signed on a contract for the O Mon 1 thermal power plant in the southern city of Can Tho to convert to using gas from Block B offshore Southwest Vietnam.

LIGEPS is a consortium between Lilama, a leading construction corporation in Vietnam, and EVNGENCO3, a unit of EVN.

The plant currently uses diesel oil and will switch to running on gas from Block B with an expected demand of about 1.2 billion cubic meters per year, according to a release posted on the website of EVN.

The Block B-O Mon gas and power project chain consists of three components: Block B field development (upstream), Block B-O Mon pipeline (midstream), and four gas-fuelled power plants O Mon 1, 2, 3, 4 (downstream), with a total expected installed capacity of 3,800 MW.

The O Mon 1 thermal power plant is invested by Electricity Generation Corporation 2 (EVNGENCO2) which assigned Can Tho Thermal Power Company to be its representative in project management.

The plant consists of two turbines with a total capacity of 660 MW. The first and second turbines have been in operation since 2008 and 2015, respectively.

The LIGEPS consortium will implement the package in the form of EPC (engineering-equipment supply-construction-installation) in 21 months.

The signing on September 5 marks a major turning point in the implementation process of the Block B-O Mon gas and power project chain, contributing to the realization of Vietnam's sustainable energy development strategy.

Tran Phu Thai, chairman of the board of directors at EVNGENCO2, said the signing of the contract and the project implementation are important milestones in the development of EVNGENCO2 and the power plant.

It demonstrates the corporation's effort to follow the government's policies and orientations in investing and developing sustainable, new energy sources.

At the event, the EVNGENCO2 chairman noted that the project progress must be in line with the task of receiving the first gas flow of the Block B-O Mon gas project chain in Q4/2026, under a prime ministerial directive dated February 14, 2024, and Petrovietnam's actual implementation progress regarding the Block B-O Mon gas power project chain.