A corner of the Thai Binh 2 thermal power plant (Source: VNA)Hanoi (VNA) – The VietnamOil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) is seeking permission to restart work on the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant which was suspended following the arrest of related officialsfor wrongdoings.
PetroVietnam Chairman Tran SyThanh suggested at a meeting on July 23 that PetroVietnam should be allowed toagain fund the Thai Binh 2 Thermal Power Plant in the Red River Delta provinceof Thai Binh with its equity capital.
Construction of the plant startedin 2011, but was suspended after some top officials of PetroVietnam and its subsidiary PetroVietnam ConstructionJoint Stock Corporation (PVC), the project's EPC contractor, were arrested for violations.
Because of PVC officials’wrongdoings, lenders have cut credit to the project, and the possibility ofborrowing more is unlikely, Thanh told leaders of the Ministry of Industry andTrade (MoIT), the Committee for Management of State Capital at Enterprises(CMSC) and the provincial Party Committee.
The 1,200 MW Thai Binh 2 wasestimated to cost 42 trillion VND (1.8 billion USD), of which 76 percent hasbeen spent. Some 84 percent of the work has been completed.
With a design capacity similar tothat of Mong Duong 2, invested by the US firm AES, and the under-constructionHai Duong power plant invested by Malaysia's Jaks Resources Berhad, Thai Binh 2is one of key power projects in northern Vietnam.
The project, part of Thai Binh thermal power complex, will contribute 7 billion kWh of electricity to thenational grid when finished, according to the MoIT. If it fails to go on streamnext year as scheduled, it will cost the country 35 trillion VND (1.5 billionUSD) a year to generate electricity using oil instead of coal, the ministrysaid.
"Without money, the projectwill close in the next few months,” said Thanh, added that the project does nothave money to pay salaries and suppliers and many workers have quit.
The main components of the plantare finished, and equipment needs to be installed before a trial run couldbegin, he added.
Minister of Industry and TradeTran Tuan Anh said at the meeting that since Thai Binh 2 is a key project,ministries need to give their opinions about it so that the MoIT could transmitPetroVietnam’s request to the government.-VNA
VNA
