Vietnam aims to fuel 3 power plants with Block B gas: PM

Gas from offshore Block B will fuel the O Mon 2, 3 and 4 power plants that are set to begin operation in 2026, 2027, and 2028, respectively, says Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh.

Chinh was speaking at a Sunday meeting with residents of the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho, held to gather opinions and views prior to the upcoming National Assembly session.

The power plants, part of the 3,810-MW O Mon power complex, in turn part of the $12-billion Block B-O Mon power project, can now meet set deadlines, Chinh said, answering voters’ questions related to the project’s site clearance interruptions in 2010 and 2012.

The project has now basically completed all procedures and is set to welcome the first gas from Block B in 2026, the PM added.

For his part, Can Tho Chairman Tran Viet Truong said municipal authorities and project investors were cooperating with each other on processing site clearance and compensation.

In March, state-run Petrovietnam and its subsidiaries signed deals with Japanese and Thai partners to buy gas for the long delayed Block B-O Mon power project. The move followed the signing of implementation deals in October 2023 by Petrovietnam, Japan's Mitsui Oil Exploration Co., Ltd. (MOECO) and Thailand’s PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP).

The exploited gas, 433 kilometers off the coast of southern Vietnam, will be transported to Can Tho for the 3,810-MW O Mon power complex, which comprises the O Mon 1, O Mon 2, O Mon 3, and O Mon 4 power plants. The project has a designed annual capacity of 22 billion kWh.

O Mon 1 power plant is operational at the moment using fuel oil. It will use gas from Block B in line with the project’s progress, officials have said.