The Korea Western Power Co. (KOWEPO) of the Republic of Korea plans to construct a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant in the central province of Quang Tri in 2018.

The Korea Western Power Co. (KOWEPO) plans to construct a 1,200MW coal-fired power plant in Quang Tri in 2018 (Photo: Quang Tri Portal)

Provincial officials said the plant was expected to become operational in 2021.

According to a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the project signed last month, KOWEPO will invest 1.85 billion USD in building the Quang Tri Power Plant No 2, which will be located in the province’s 

Southeast Economic Zone.

KOWEPO will own and operate the power plant for 25 years. It will also carry out construction management and operations and maintenance (O&M) services.

“We will establish a growth base in Vietnam and make a full-scale entry into the Indochina power generation market by successfully completing this project,” Jung Young-chul, general manager of the 

Planning and Management Division of KOWEPO, said in a statement on the company’s website.

The Korean firm is also preparing a basic investment prospectus for the project for completing the plant by the end of 2024.

According to KOWEPO, the power plant will supply power to Quang Tri Industrial Park and Economic Zone, as well as main development projects of the province.

Last year, the province granted investment licences to 15 projects worth 10 trillion VND (444 million USD).

The province, situated on the East-West Economic Corridor and Trans-Asia road link with Laos, Thailand and Myanmar, has called for foreign investment in organic and hi-tech farming and the processing 

industry.

In the 2011-15 period, Quang Tri attracted 262 domestic and foreign projects with a combined investment capital of about 50.3 trillion VND (more than 2.23 billion USD).

The province also plans a 14,000ha farm as a high-tech zone that will produce lotus milk and host a freshwater fish aquaculture centre.

In 2015, Thai company One Asian signed a MoU with the province to invest approximately 2.4 billion USD in a 1,200 MW thermal power plant starting in 2017 and finishing in 2019.

The Thai investor also agreed to study the development of an energy complex in the southeast economic zone that would combine power plants with the My Thuy deep water port project, and natural gas-

fired power plants to take advantage of the 30 billion cubic metre gas reserves off the central coast of Vietnam.

Also in 2015, another Thai investor, EGATI, said it was planning to invest 2.26 billion USD in the 1,200-MW Quang Tri thermal power plant project on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis. The plant is 

expected to commence commercial operations in 2021.

VNA