PetroVietnam chooses US consulting firm

The US-based Black & Veatch will provide project management and design services for the 1,200 MW Long Phu 1 Power Plant in southern Soc Trang Province, its contractor, Petro Vietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), said yesterday.

“Apart from engineering and project management consulting experience, Black & Veatch has experience as an EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contractor in the power sector, which is of great importance in assisting PTSC with the engineering and construction of the [power plant],” Nguyen Tran Toan, deputy general director of PTSC, said.

PTSC is a subsidiary of PetroVietnam, the investor, and is the engineering, procurement, and construction contractor for the plant.

PetroVietnam Power, another subsidiary, will operate the plant.

“Rapid urbanization, manufacturing growth and a strong interest in the nation’s rich deposits of rare earth metals are putting pressure on Viet Nam’s power grid,” Gary Morrow, the US firm’s senior vice president and director of power generation services, said.

“PTSC’s strong technical capabilities and their leadership in oil and gas combined with Black & Veatch’s design and implementation knowledge is an example of how international partnerships can deliver innovative, quality solutions to meet Viet Nam’s growing power needs.”

Long Phu will be a coal-fueled facility and use the highly efficient super-critical technology.

Super-critical technology achieves lower carbon and other emissions than sub-critical plants of the same power output because it enables plant operators to use less fuel per unit of electricity generated.

The plant will also install wet scrubbers and electrostatic precipitators for controlling emissions.

The facility will consist of two 600 MW units. It will be the first of three planned power plants at the Long Phu Power Center which will have a total capacity of 4,400 MW.

The Government has announced plans to build 90 coal-fired plants by 2025 at a cost of US$83 billion and a combined capacity of 106,000MW.

PetroVietnam plans to add 9,000MW of power generation capacity by 2015. — VNS

Tags: Black & Veatch, PetroVietnam