JICA to drive forward $1.5bn power project

State-run PetroVietnam will start construction of the $1.5 billion Song Hau 1 coal-fired power plant in southern Vietnam this year.

Japanese official development assistance (ODA), delivered via the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), will bankroll the project. JICA will also be responsible to help the Vietnamese partners to develop the project.

JICA and the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the state management body over power projects in Vietnam, recently inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop the 1,200 megawatt Song Hau 1 power project in Hau Giang province and other related infrastructure including an imported coal port, a power transmission line and power transformer stations.

Under the MoU, both sides will study a plan to implement the project and choose the most appropriate public-private partnership scheme. JICA will also set up a research group and submit the final report on the project to the MoIT in July, this year.

The report will help Vietnam and JICA in considering the method for the implementation of the project, ODA capital arrangement and the development of other related infrastructure.

PetroVietnam is the investor of the power project while Vinacomin and EVN investing in the construction of the coal port and power transmission line respectively.

The Song Hau 1 power plant is the first project developed within the Song Hau power centre locating in Phu Huu A industrial cluster in the Chau Thanh district of Hau Giang province.

The Song Hau power centre is the biggest one in Vietnam, covering 367 hectares, and it comprises three coal-fired power plants with an accumulative capacity of 5,200MW. The Song Hau 1 has two 600MW generators while the Song Hau 2 and 3 each having two 1,000MW generators.

PetroVietnam has targeted to bring the first generator of the Song Hau 1 plant into commission in late 2015 and the second one in the following year.

The group is also developing other major coal-fired power projects in Vietnam, including the 1,200MW Thai Binh 2 coal-fired power plant in northern Thai Binh province, the 1,200MW Vung Ang 1 in central Ha Tinh province, the 1,200MW Quang Trach 1 in central Quang Binh province, the 1,200MW Long Phu 1 in southern Soc Trang province and the 1,110MW Luang Prabang hydropower project in Laos.

It is also the investor of the 1,500MW Ca Mau gas-to-power centre in southern Ca Mau province and the 450MW Nhon Trach 1 in southern Dong Nai province. – VIR

Tags: Song Hau 1 coal-fired power plant