Foreign businesses urge government to approve thermal power plants having enough capital

October 19, 2021 | 12:38

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Vietnam Business Forum (VBF), representing 13 associations of foreign-invested enterprises, requested the government to only approve coal-fired thermal power plants where the investors have enough capital.

Foreign businesses urge government to approve thermal power plants having enough capital

Foreign-invested enterprises are urging the government to facilitate the green energy revolution

The requirement was made as a comment for completing the draft Power Development Plan VIII. According to the VBF, numerous credit and financial organisations and international commercial banks announced withdrawing financing from thermal power plant projects after receiving protests over their environmental impact.

The VBF added that numerous thermal power plants, which are expected to be kicked off in 2022, are now in financial difficulties and the investors will only implement the projects with government support.

Thus, the VBF proposed the government to only approve thermal power plants where the investors have enough capital on their own.

It also requested more solutions to promote low-emission alternatives such as offshore gas and imported liquefied natural gas (LNG). Besides, it urged the government to encourage the development of offshore wind farms with a scale of 1-3GW.

Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan's third-largest bank by assets, announced that it would stop financing new coal mining projects from June 1 as global investors and environmental groups urge banks to unload coal-related exposure.

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), which financed several coal-fired electricity projects, also stopped lending for new coal power plants. Instead, it would provide funds for natural gas projects and hybrid electricity solutions involving fossil fuels as backup systems.

Besides, financial firms like British insurer Prudential, Citi, HSBC, and BlackRock Real Assets are devising plans to speed up the closure of Asia’s coal-fired power plants to reduce the biggest source of carbon emissions.

By Kim Oanh

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