NDRC Approves China Southern Power Grid's Investment in Coal-fired Power Plant in Vietnam

---

Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--The National Development and Reform Commission, the top planner in China, recently approved China Southern Power Grid Corporation Limited's (CSG) (Guangzhou, Guangdong) investment in the Phase I project of the Vinh Hung coal-fired power plant in Vietnam. This will be the largest project invested in by Chinese companies in Vietnam, CGS announced on August 27, 2010.

The plant is in the Binh Thuan province in southern Vietnam. The project, which will be developed under the build-operate-transfer (BOT) model, includes two sets of 600-megawatt (MW), coal-fired subcritical thermal power units, fueled by local blind coal. Electricity generated from the project will be purchased by Electricity of Vietnam (Hanoi) and will be supplied to electric grid in southern Vietnam. Total investment in the project will be about $1.75 billion.

In November 2006, CSG signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam's Ministry of Industry to build the Phase I project of the Vinh Hung coal-fired power plant using the BOT model. Ten months later, CSG, China Power International Company Limited (Hong Kong) and Vietnam Coal-Mineral Industries Group (Hanoi) signed an agreement to co-fund the project.

With support from both governments of the two countries, development of the project has made outstanding progress. So far, the project has entered the final stage of contractual negotiation, and is expected to begin operations in 2014.

The project will be financed by a banking syndicate from China and use electric power equipment made by Chinese manufacturers and built by Chinese enterprises. Implementing the project will improve the power supply in southern Vietnam, as well as enhance the Electric Power Cooperation in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region and the economic and trade cooperation between China and Vietnam, according to the announcement of CSG.

China ranks 11th among 39 countries and regions with investments in Vietnam. According to the latest statistics from the Economic and Commercial Counselor's Office of the China Embassy in Vietnam, companies and corporations from China directly invested $74.2 million in Vietnam in the first half of this year, an increase of 131.1% from the same period last year.

Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of global market intelligence specializing in the industrial process, heavy manufacturing and energy markets. IIR's quality-assurance philosophy, the Living Forward Reporting Principle™, provides up-to-the-minute intelligence on what's happening now, while constantly keeping track of future opportunities.