Vietnam's Truong Thanh taps DPPA to power firms in Mekong Delta province

Local firm Truong Thanh Vietnam Group JSC aims to survey two locations in the Mekong Delta province of Tra Vinh to supply electricity to local businesses via direct power purchase agreements (DPPAs).

A delegation of Truong Thanh Vietnam Group, led by chairman Dang Trung Kien, made the proposal to Tra Vinh authorities on Wednesday, seeking the province's permission to conduct surveys.

The firm aims for two wind power projects: a 200-MW one in Duyen Hai district and another 80-MW one in Duyen Hai township. The survey duration is three months, the firm said.

Truong Thanh Vietnam is committed to conducting the surveys with its own budget and will deliver data to the provincial authorities to add the projects to the provincial planning and national power development plan VIII (PDP VIII), if any.

The firm would sell the electricity output in line with the DPPA via the national grid run by state utlity Vietnam Electricity (EVN). The receivers will include Japanese businesses and Amata Vietnam, a firm invested by Thailand-based industrial real estate developer Amata.

Welcoming the initiatives, Ngo Chi Cuong, chief of the Tra Vinh Party Committee, said the province would allow the firm to survey the designated areas for the 80-MW project and other locations.

Hanoi-headquartered Truong Thanh Vietnam is well-known as the Vietnamese partner in Thai Binh LNG Power JSC, the investor of Thai Binh LNG power plant in the northern province of Thai Binh. The other two partners of the 1.5 GW LNG-to-power project with an investment of $2 billion are Japan’s Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd and Kyuden International Corporation.

Decree 80/2024 issued by the Vietnamese government on DPPAs between renewable energy developers and large consumers took effect in July. It defines large consumers as those who’ve consumed at least 200,000 kWh per month on average in the last 12 months. Firms that have been consuming power for fewer than 12 months will also be deemed large consumers if they have consumed at least 200,000 kWh per month.

Under the decree, renewable energy includes solar power, wind power, small-scale hydropower, biomass power, geothermal power, sea wave power, tidal power, marine current power and rooftop solar power.

The decree focuses on two types of power purchases: via private power lines or via the national grid. With the former, sellers and consumers can negotiate prices on their own.