The Vietnam Sustainable Energy Alliance (VSEA) and the Vietnam Non-Communicable Disease Prevention Alliance (NCDs-VN) have proposed the Government put on hold all the coal-fired thermal power projects that are being planned to appraise how they would affect socio-economic development.

Coal-fired power plants currently make up half of the projects that are posing risks to the environment or have violated environmental regulations and are put on the special inspection list of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, VSEA said in a statement sent to the Daily on October 25.

VSEA and NCDs-VN also asked the Government to adjust the Master Electricity Development Plan in the 2011-2020 period with a vision to 2030 (Master Plan No. 7) in a way that prevents power projects from threatening the environment and public health, reduce dependence on coal-fired power generation, and collect opinions from relevant agencies and experts to develop the power sector in a sustainable and effective way.

They said the Government should require the Ministry of Health to evaluate the effects of coal-fired thermal power plants on human health in the process of assessing their impacts on the environment and society.

Besides, they urged the Government to promptly formulate support policy for renewable energy projects.

The two organizations also asked the ministries of industry-trade and natural resource-environment to pinpoint those power plants causing pollution exceeding permissible levels to ensure transparency and effective monitoring.

They said if coal-fired power projects in the special inspection list of the industry-trade ministry are found to continue causing pollution, they must be forced to stop operations while their operators should be banned from investing in new coal-fired power projects.

In a report sent to the Government, VSEA lists thermal power plants Haiphong 1 and 2, Thai Binh 1 and 2, Mao Khe, Vinh Tan 2, Vung Ang 1, and Duyen Hai 2 as sources of air and water pollution, which have affected the lives of locals.

With 20 operational coal-fired thermal power plants, Vietnam is facing a huge risk of pollution, and that risk would get even bigger if an additional 40 plants are up and running nationwide by 2030 in line with the revised Master Plan No. 7.

According to the report, 14 coal-fired thermal power projects with a total capacity of 18,000 MW will start operation in the Mekong Delta by 2030, putting the water environment of the region at stake.

SGT