A consortium of companies including Saudi utility ACWA Power and South Korea's Taekwang Power have agreed to jointly develop the first phase of a 1.2GW coal-fired power plant in Vietnam.
The $2bn Nam Dinh 1 project will be located around 150km south of Hanoi and will be equipped with new clean coal burning technology, including a circulating fluidised bed combustion system as an alternative to the older pulverised coal combustion system. State-owned producer Vinacomin will supply coal to the plant. The project will consist of two 600MW units, both scheduled for completion in 2020.
Vietnam is adding new generation capacity to meet rising demand for electricity and is developing several coal-fired power plants throughout the country. Increasing demand means Vietnam will be forced to significantly raise its coal imports and reduce exports in the coming years, even as it brings new mining capacity on line.
There were 19 new coal mining projects in Vietnam as of late last year scheduled to come on line by 2025. Vinacomin has said it may look at investing in overseas coal mining assets as domestic coal consumption rises.
Vietnam produces mostly anthracite, which it exports to China and South Korea, but its exports are falling. It is likely to export just 10mn t of coal this year, half of what it sold overseas in 2010, as increasing volumes of its coal production are diverted to the domestic market.
Vietnam's domestic output is increasing as new mining projects come on line. But future production growth is likely to lag behind demand growth in the coming years. Vietnam's coal production is expected to reach 82mn t by 2025, but this is still well below the 100mn t that will likely be needed by the country's power producers the same year.
aj/rjd
Send comments to feedback@argusmedia.com
If you would like to review other ArgusMedia.com content options, request more information about Argus' energy news, data and analysis services.
Copyright © 2014 Argus Media Ltd - www.ArgusMedia.com - All rights reserved.
