State utility EVN to take over 2 thermal power plants after BOT contracts end

Vietnam Electricity (EVN) will take over two thermal power plants in the southern region after their build-operate-transfer (BOT) contracts end in 2024 and 2025.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai signed a decision to this effect last Saturday.

The BOT contracts for the two thermal power plants in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province - Phu My 3 and Phu My 2.2 - were signed in 2001.

The 716.8-MW Phu My 3 power plant was a joint investment by Singapore’s Sembcorp and Japan’s Kyuden International Corporation and Sojitz Corporation. The $450-million facility started commercial operations in March 2004 and will be transferred to the Vietnamese side in March 2024.

Similarly, the $480 million Phu My 2.2 power factory will be transferred to the Vietnamese side in February 2025, as its commercial operation began in February 2005.

Investors in the 715-MW plant were France’s Electricite du France International (EDFI), Summit Global Management II B.V under Japan’s Sumitomo, and Japan’s Tokyo Electric Power Co. International (TEPCI).

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has been tasked with monitoring the transfer and ensuring continuous operation of the factories.

With oil-gas wells depleting, PV Power, the power generation arm of state-owned oil-gas group Petrovietnam, has raised concerns about insufficient gas supply for factories in the southeastern region and proposed LNG as the alternative fuel.

Meanwhile, PVGas, another Petrovietnam subsidiary, has said that after the two above-mentioned power plants are transferred, LNG would be the only suitable fuel for their continued operation.