Phu My's 725 Megawatts Another Step Towards Vietnam's 7,500-Megawatt Additional Power Target by 2010

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Researched by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Incorporated; Houston, Texas). The full commissioning of Vietnam's 725-megawatt (MW) Phu My 2.2 power station, after a successful test run, marks a significant step forward for the country's new power project plans. With a total generating capacity target of 11,400 MW in 2005, up from 8,300 MW in 2002, and a 17,500 MW capacity target for 2010, the new plant is said to add about 7% to the country's current capacity.

The $440 million combined-cycle power plant has been built by the Mekong Energy consortium, which is comprised of EDF (Electricite de France) (Paris), Tokyo Electric Power International (Tokyo:9501), and Sumitomo Corporation (Tokyo:6302 ). Generating equipment installed is based on two GE (NYSE:GE)(Fairfield, Connecticut) 9Fae gas turbines and one steam turbine. The annual feed of 850 million cubic meters of gas for the plant comes from the offshore Nam Con Son Basin in the south of the country and is purchased from the state's PetroVietnam (Vietnam Oil and Gas Corporation) (Hanoi)

The plant is operating under a BOT contract (build, operate, transfer) signed by Mekong Energy with the Ministry of Industry. After 20 years the plant will be handed over to the appropriate Vietnamese authorities. Another 720 MW gas-fired plant in Phu My Power complex, commissioned two years ago, was constructed on a 20-year BOT contract by a consortium led by BP (NYSE:BP) (London, U.K.). For related news item see - June 26, 2003 - Vietnam's ENV Puts Together Local and Foreign BOT Projects to Meet Massive $22 Billion Power Construction Targets.

Electricity of Vietnam (EVD) is planning a $14 billion building and upgrading schedule from 2006 through 2010, which will cover 52 power plants with a combined capacity of 7,574 MW. 42 of these units are hydroelectric, from small-medium to major in generating capacity, six coal-fired and four gas-fed. Vinacoal also has plans to construct eight new coal-fired power plants.

The 2,400 MW Son La hydropower project was given government approval in 2004 and construction is set to begin on the project in the fourth quarter of 2005, with operation scheduled for 2015. Thirty-three percent of the $2.3 billion project investment will be used for the resettlement of families living in the 44,700 hectares to be flooded by the plant's reservoir.

A $220 million World Bank loan for the Rural Energy II project is designed to bring power to 2.5 million households. Between 2001 and the end of 2004 Rural Energy I brought electricity to about 500,000 households. Currently 87% of households have access to electrical power. Electricity demand in the country is forecasted to grow 15% to 16% a year through 2010. The government has estimated that an additional 15,000 kilometers of high voltage transmission lines and 277,000 kilometers of medium and low voltage transmission lines will be needed to accommodate new capacity by 2010, and EVN will invest $330 million in the next five years to upgrade transmission lines around Hanoi. For related news item see - December 9, 2003 - Vietnam's Power Plans See New Hydropower and Oil Refineries Lifting Economy By 2010

In addition to pursuing solar potential, the country is planning to have a 2,000 MW nuclear power plant by 2020, for which the ministry of science and technology submitted a prefeasibility study to the National Assembly in December 2004.

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