Vietnam approves Hai Lang gas power project

The government of Vietnam has approved the first phase of the Hai Lang gas-based power project, it said on October 8 in a statement. The $2.3bn project will be developed by a consortium of South Korean and Vietnamese companies.

The plant, located in Quang Tri province, will have a power generation capacity of 1.5 GW and run on regasified LNG. The LNG will be imported via a 1.5mn metric tons/year receiving and regas terminal. The plant is expected to be ready by 2026-27.

Vietnam's T&T group and South Korea's Korea Southern Power Corp (Kospo), Hanwha Energy Corp and Korea Gas Corp (Kogas) are the project's developers, the government said. T&T group will contribute 40% of the investment capital and while Hanwha, Kospo, Kogas will together contribute 60%.

The southeast Asian nation is promoting gas-fired power as it moves away from coal and oil-based generation. At present, Vietnam does not import any LNG but expects to begin buying the fuel next year, the country’s minister of industry and trade Nguyen Hong Dien said in a pre-recorded video address posted on YouTube on September 10 ahead of the 10th LNG Producer-Consumer Conference.