Ground-breaking ceremony held for China-invested thermal power plant project in Vietnam

HANOI -- A ground-breaking ceremony was held for the 1,200 MW (2x600 MW) China-invested Hai Duong thermal power plant project in Vietnam's northern Hai Duong province on Sunday.

Hai Duong Thermal Power Plant Project, composing of two sets of 600 MW unit and 4 sets of CFB subcritical boiler, is one of the largest installed capacity projects in Vietnam. It is co-invested and co-constructed by China Power Engineering Consulting Group Co., Ltd and Malaysia's JAKS Resources Bhd (JAKS) in build-operate-transfer (BOT) mode with a gross investment of nearly $1.87 billion.

Hai Duong thermal power plant project's investment agreement was engaged in July 2015 with 25 years operation period and after that it will be handed over to the Vietnamese government. The project will be constructed by Southwest Electric Power Design Institute Co., Ltd and China Power Engineering Consulting Group International Engineering Co., Ltd through the engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) mode.

Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony, Vu Huy Hoang, Vietnamese minister of industry and trade, said that the Hai Duong thermal power plant is a key power development project of the country, adding to the generating capacity of Vietnam's northern region.

Hoang expressed his hope that under the diversification of power investment and trading, the plant will help develop Vietnamese power sources, maintain the country's national energy security and sustainable socio-economic development in the context of international economic integration.

Nguyen Manh Hien, secretary of the Hai Duong Provincial Party Committee, expressed his belief that with investors' potential, experience and determination, the plant will be promptly completed and brought into operation, meeting electric power demand for production, business and lives of people.

Wang Jianping, chairman of China Energy Engineering Corporation Limited, said the Hai Duong thermal power plant has been the biggest single investment of a Chinese company to Vietnam so far.

The plant will not only greatly alleviate local electric power shortage but also make contribution to Vietnam's power generation development, said Wang, committing to carry out high-standard and high-quality investment and construction work and perform the BOT contract faithfully.