Energy association demands lesser Chinese role

As many power projects carried out by Chinese constructors have failed to meet deadlines, the Vietnam Energy Association (VEA) has demanded the government to limit their participation in future projects.
VEA’s Chair Tran Viet Nghia said dozens of power projects nationwide were progressing slowly because of incapable and inexperienced Chinese constructors with few financial resources. And this, Nghia said, is negatively affecting Vietnam’s socialeconomic development.

According to Nghia, most of these projects were thermal-power plants such as Hai Phong 1 and 2, Cam Pha 1 and 2, Quang Ninh 1 and 2, Mao Khe, Thai Nguyen and Duyen Hai 1.

Nghia said besides poor technology and equipment and insufficient capital, Chinese constructors didn’t employ local workers but only used Chinese personnel.

Nghia also warned that because Vietnam hadn’t developed any standard for power plants, these projects had to follow Chinese standards, which aren’t high enough.

On July 21, the prime minister approved Power Master Plan VII which put down 75,000MW as the target for the country’s total power production in 2020, which is three times higher than the current figure.

But Nghia said this target could never be achieved if the government’s policies and management over constructors didn’t change.

VEA thus called for changes in the existing bidding law to enable investors to choose high-quality equipment as well as experienced constructors from highly developed countries such as the EU.

“The government should also demand foreign constructors to employ Vietnamese engineers and workers,” Nghia said.

“As for Chinese constructors, we can assign them to lesser tasks.”

Tags: Vietnam energy, Vietnam energy industry, Vietnam Energy sector