Vietnam building more power plants as economic growth accelerates

Tuesday, 1 May 2018 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Hanoi (Reuters) - PetroVietnam Power Corp, or PV Power, has been granted government approval to build two gas-fired power plants in southern Vietnam at a total cost of nearly $ 1.5 billion, its parent company said on Thursday.

The Southeast Asian country is developing a wave of new power plants to support economic growth that is among the strongest in Asia. Vietnam’s gross domestic product grew 6.81% last year, faster than an expansion of 6.21% a year earlier.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has given the go-ahead for the two facilities in the province of Dong Nai, state oil firm PetroVietnam, which holds a 51% stake in PV Power, said in a statement.

The Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 plants will have a combined capacity of 1,500 megawatts and will cost 33.3 trillion dong ($ 1.46 billion) to build, PetroVietnam said. They are scheduled to start generating in 2020 and 2021 respectively.

In a separate deal, Singapore’s Sembcorp Industries said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Sembcorp Utilities, on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding with Vietnam to build another power plant in the country.

The 750-megawatt gas-fired power plant will be built in the central province of Quang Ngai, the company said in a statement, without providing the cost and time frame for building the facility.

PV Power, the second largest power producer in Vietnam after the state-run Vietnam Electricity group, said earlier this year that it was looking to sell 676.39 million shares, or a 28.9% stake, to strategic investors. The company’s shares were trading at 14,100 dong apiece on Thursday, potentially putting the value of the deal at $ 419 million.

The Government raised $ 308 million selling a 20% stake in PV Power at an initial public offering in January.