PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power), the second largest electricity producer of Vietnam, may replace PetroVietnam as the investor of Nhon Trach 3 and 4 thermal power plants located in Ong Keo Industrial Zone (IZ) in the southern province of Dong Nai.

The transfer would enable PetroVietnam to develop key oil and gas projects (Photo: Nhon Trach 2 thermal power plant)

The government office has collected the opinions of ministries and relevant authorities about PetroVietnam’s proposal to hand over Nhon Trach 3 and 4 thermal power plants to PV Power - the group's power arm.

The proposal aims to decrease the capital pressure on PetroVietnam so that it can focus on developing the country’s key oil and gas projects.

According to the plan, the two thermal power plants will cover an area of 34 hectares and have a total investment capital of VND33.3 trillion ($1.46 billion), with the production capacity of 750-800MW each.

The Nhon Trach 3 power plant will occupy nearly 16.6 hectares, while the second power plant will be spread over an area of 17.4 hectares (excluding the complex area, surface water, and public service buildings).

They will use liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported from the Thi Vai storage terminal.

Nhon Trach 3 thermal power plant is expected to come into commercial operation in 2020, while Nhon Trach 4 is due for 2012.

Once PV Power is approved to receive the projects, it will use VND9.99 trillion ($438.29 million) of equity and VND23.31 trillion ($1.02 billion) from loans to develop the two projects.

In 2017, PV Power produced 20.581 million kWh of electricity, earning VND30.98 trillion ($1.36 billion) in revenue and VND2.503 trillion ($109.95 million) in pre-tax profit. This year, the firm expects to generate 21.570 million kWh, and earn VND30.95 trillion ($1.35 billion) in revenue and VND1.91 trillion ($83.9 million) in pre-tax profit.

Previously, in February 2017, the prime minister agreed to add the Nhon Trach 3 and 4 projects to the National Power Development Master Plan VII and assign PetroVietnam as the investor of the projects.

The PM also asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade to additionally approve connecting these projects to the national power grid and asked the authority to urge investors and relevant units to hasten steps to implement power plant projects so that these projects can come into operation on schedule.

The Nhon Trach 1 thermal power plant started commercial operation in August 2009 with the capacity of 450MW. Meanwhile, the Nhon Trach 2 thermal power plant was launched in late 2011. As a key national project in the province’s Nhon Trach Power Centre, the power plant has a total capacity of 750 MW and is fuelled by natural gas.

PV Power currently has a charter capital of VND21.77 trillion ($955,124 million) and operates eight thermal power plants with a total capacity of 4,208MW.

VIR