Taekwang Power likely to reignite thermal power project in northern Vietnam 

South Korea’s Taekwang Power said it has completed capital arrangement to implement the 1,200 MW Nam Dinh 1 thermal power plant in Nam Dinh province, which has been on the shelf since its investment certificate was issued in 2017.

Sang Young Jin, CEO of the firm, a member of South Korean chaebol Taekwang Group, made the statement at a meeting on Wednesday with Pham Gia Tuc, chief of Nam Dinh's Party Committee.

The 242.7 hectare project, with an investment of $2.3 billion, has been idle due to changes in its shareholder structure, difficulties in capital arrangement, and problems associated with fulfillment of procedures.

The meeting took place a few days after the national power development plan (PDP) VIII was approved. The PDP VIII for 2021-2030, with vision to 2050, features the Nam Dinh 1 thermal power plant as an important and prioritized project.

The PDP VIII also requests coal-fired power plants to update technology to use biomass and ammonia as materials after 20 years of operation, when prices are suitable.

The executive clarified the firm has completed capital arrangement, and is ready to pay compensation to citizens for land impacted by the project. It has also finished resettlement areas for relocated people, and will complete preparations at the end of 2023 for project deployment, while urging provincial authorities to aid the progress, he noted.

Sang Young Jin said the firm will employ modern technology to minimize environmental impacts of the power plant in accordance with Vietnam’s pledge of zero emissions by 2050 made at the COP26.

The project, under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) format, was granted an investment certificate in July 2017 by the Ministry of Planning and Investment. State mining giant Vinacomin was designated as the coal supplier for the project, which was the fourth BOT thermal power project in Vietnam at that time.

The project, located in Hai Hau district, was slated to start construction in 2018, however progress has been frozen. Taekwang Power and Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power were the two investors, but the latter withdrew.