Vietcombank loans $140 mln to Vietnam’s biggest coal-fired power plant

The Khanh Hoa province branch of Vietcombank, the largest lender by market valuation, has signed a short-term credit agreement of $140 million with Van Phong Power Company Limited, the operator of the Van Phong 1 power plant.

The operator of the nation’s largest coal-fired plant in the central province of Khanh Hoa is wholly-owned by Japan’s Sumitomo group.

The two sides signed the credit agreement Thursday in Tokyo during a Japan visit by a Khanh Hoa delegation.

Khanh Hoa Party Secretary Nguyen Hai Ninh said at the signing ceremony that the agreement would facilitate full official operation of the power plant.

Construction of the $2.58 billion, 1.32-GW power plant started in October 2019. It first turbine started operations last month. The plant with two turbines is set to become fully operational next month, generating nine billion kWh a year.

The credit agreement reaffirmed Khanh Hoa’s efforts to strengthen economic cooperation with and attract investment from Japan as the two nations celebrate the 50th anniversary of bilateral ties this year, Ninh said.

Japan is the biggest foreign direct investment (FDI) source for Khanh Hoa, the provincial leader said. Of the 111 FDI projects the province has attracted so far, six Japanese-invested ones account for $2.65 billion, or 70% of the total, he added.