Authorities ask LNG Bac Lieu power project to keep price at 7 US cent per kWh

The national steering committee asked DOE to stick to the power price at the LNG Bac Lieu project

To date, Delta Offshore Energy Pte., Ltd (DOE) was granted the investment registration certificate for the $4 billion Bac Lieu liquefied natural gas (LNG) power project with the capacity of 3,200MW. The investor started to build the feasibility report for the project and is working to complete the investment preparation within this year.

DOE selected Bechtel Group from the US as the strategic partner in charge of the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

In addition, it had an official online working session for the first time with Electrivity of Vietnam (EVN) to discuss works related to the project in April with the target of signing the PPA before this October.

According to the investor’s plans, the first phase of the project with the capacity of 800MW is expected to start operation in 2024 and the construction of the entire project is expected to be completed in December 2027. The complex of LNG port and warehouse will be located at the coastal area of Bac Lieu, 35 kilometres from the power plant.

The investor wants EVN to issue guidance on the nation's power demand, the operation time, progress, and the connection method to the national grid, which will be the basis for technical design to serve for building the PPA contract.

Responding to DOE’s requirement, the National Steering Committee for Electricity Development proposed EVN to reach an agreement with the investor about the target and the progress of the project so that they can sign the framework agreement.

The committee noted in a report submitted to the prime minister that, “It is necessary to require the investor to keep its commitment about the selling price of 7 US cent per kWh to save time for negotiating the PPA."

At present, a series of investors expect to add their projects to the national power development plan in 2021-2030, with vision to 2045 (Power Plan VIII) but lack a framework on selling price. Thus, the National Steering Committee for Electricity Development asked the Electricity Regulatory Authority to complete the price framework for power plants using LNG in the third quarter of this year and submit it to the Ministry of Industry and Trade for consideration.