Gas-to-power sector to make up 10 per cent of power supply by 2025

Gas-to-power sector to make up 10 per cent of power supply by 2025

This was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung at the Vietnam Energy Summit 2020 which opened in Hanoi on July 22.

Speaking at the summit, Dung said that as of now, both foreign and domestic investors registered to develop gas-to-power projects with the total capital of 100,000MW. Thus, cities and provinces need to make sure they avoid potential grid overloads.

In the framework of the summit, Ninh Thuan People’s Committee and Trungnam Group signed an MoU about an LNG power project in Ca Na. In addition, another MoU was signed for an LNG power plant at Chan May-Lang Co Economic Zone between Chan May LNG JSC and Thua Thien-Hue People’s Committee.

Chan May LNG JSC is a US-Vietnam joint-stock company for the development and operation of a $6.2 billion new gas-fired power plant in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue. The plant will include a liquefied natural gas (LNG) port for loading and off-loading, an on-shore LNG terminal, and a storage plant.

With the generation capacity of 4,000MW, the project will commercially supply LNG and regular gas to the region and Thua Thien-Hue’s industrial and economic zones.

As of now, the government added 11,200MW of LNG power to the power development planning, which does not include the project in the Chan May-Lang Co area.

Ca Na LNG power centre was added to the National Electricity Development Planning in this April. The first phase of the project is designed to have the capacity of 1,500MW and is expected to start operation during 2025-2026.

Deputy Prime Minister Dung asked Ninh Thuan People’s Committee to co-operate with the Ministry of Industry and Trade, Electricity of Vietnam, and relevant authorities to select contractors for LNG power projects located in the province.

Numerous investors pay attention to the development of LNG projects in Vietnam. In addition, a number of thermal power projects want to switch to the LNG model, including Long An 1 and 2 thermal power plants.

At a working session with the Minister of Industry and Trade in May, Le Minh Duc, director of Long An Department of Industry and Trade, reported that the province proposed changing the technology used by the two thermal power plants while simultaneously adjusting their scale.

VinaCapital Group Ltd. and other investors will be in charge of developing these two projects, which contributes to decreasing the financial pressure on Electricity of Vietnam to develop new electricity sources. With the average construction of 30-36 months per project, the construction will be much faster than a coal-fired power plant.