Southern Vietnam province completes site clearance for $3 bln LNG power project

Long An province in southern Vietnam has completed site clearance for the Long An 1 and Long An 2 LNG-to-power project that has a combined investment of $3.13 billion and a capacity of 3,000 MW.

Vietnamese firm Dongtam Group, investor of Long An International Port where the project is located, announced the completion at a Tuesday meeting with Long An authorities and South Korean firm GS Energy.

The meeting was part of an investment promotion working trip to South Korea by a provincial delegation.

The stage is set for GS Energy, one of the investors, to begin work on the LNG-to-power project; and the Korean firm was completing final administrative procedures before getting started, the meeting heard.

Nguyen Van Duoc, Party chief of Long An province, acknowledged the project was facing some challenges, but stressed that the province accorded priority to it and was focused on having construction begin early.

He asked GS Energy to cooperate closely with provincial authorities and relevant ministries to speed up progress.

The province had granted an investment certificate for the project in March 2021 to VinaCapital GS Energy Pte. Ltd.

The firm is a joint venture between VinaCapital, one of Vietnam’s largest investment management companies, and GS Energy, the energy unit of South Korean chaebol GS Group.

In June 2023, Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank), VinaCapital and GS Energy inked a memorandum of understanding to finance the project. The signing took place on the sidelines of the Vietnam-Korea Business Forum held in Hanoi during a three-day state visit by South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol.

This April, Long An authorities approved implementation plans for the Long An 1 and Long An 2 LNG-to-power plants, aiming at commercial operations starting in June 2028 and June 2031, respectively.

However, according to an August update from the provincial industry department, a feasibility study was being done for the Long An 1 project towards beginning operations in 2029-2030. The Long An 2 project is set to begin operating after 2030, as scheduled.