Petrovietnam to build coal-fired plant
SOC TRANG, VIETNAM - Vietnam's state oil and gas group Petrovietnam said it would start building a $1.2-billion coal-fired power plant in early January in the country's southern region.
Petrovietnam Technical Services Corporation has been picked to build the 1,200-megawatt Long Phu 1 plant with two generators in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang, the group said in a statement.
Long Phu 1, expected to start operation in 2014, would import coal from Indonesia and Australia and framework contracts over long-term supply of the fuel have been signed with foreign companies, it said but did not name any coal sellers.
Petrovietnam will use its funds to meet 30 percent of the plant's investment cost, while taking export credit assistance funds for the remaining 70 percent, the group said.
To cope with regular shortfalls of electricity in recent years, Vietnam has been speeding the construction of power plants, buying electricity from China and urging people to conserve power.
It plans to start construction of the country's first nuclear power plant in 2014 using Russian technology.
Related News
As Maine debates 145-mile electric line, energy giant with billions at stake is absent
BANGOR - As Maine regulators are deciding whether to approve the construction of a $1 billion transmission line across much of western Maine, the Canadian hydroelectric utility poised to make billions of dollars from the project has been absent from the process.
This has left both opponents and supporters of the line arguing about how much available energy the utility has to send through a completed line, and whether that energy will help fulfill the mission of the project: fighting climate change.
And while the utility has avoided making its case before regulators, which requires submitting to cross-examination and discovery, it has…
