HÀ NỘI — PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) is preparing to implement the construction of nine gas-fired power plants with total output of 5,250MW, PV Power general director Nguyễn Xuân Hòa said.

Hòa said the nine power plants are Kiên Giang 1, Kiên Giang 2, Nhơn Trạch 3 and Nhơn Trạch 4, as well as Miền Trung 1, Miền Trung 2, Sơn Mỹ 2.1, Sơn Mỹ 2.2 and Sơn Mỹ 2.3.

Gas sources for the plants will be from the Lô B Ô Môn and Cá Voi Xanh oil fields, along with imported gas. PetroVietnam has entrusted PV Gas to prepare imported sources to provide gas to the power plants.

Hòa believed investment into the nine projects would be profitable as current power output in the southern region hadn’t met demand, even as power demand was forecast to continuously rise by some 11 per cent yearly.

Hòa said the investor of the nine projects is currently still PetroVietnam; however, PV Power - a wholly owned subsidiary of PetroVietnam - is asking the Prime Minister’s permission to become the investor for the Nhơn Trạch 3 and Nhơn Trạch 4 plants.

Hòa said PV Power is mapping out plans to obtain investment capital for the Nhơn Trạch 3 and Nhơn Trạch 4 plants. The capital for the two projects is estimated at some US$1.4 billion and PV Power will have to get some 20 per cent of the total capital as partnership capital.

PV Power expects that partnership capital will come from its profits gained in the coming years besides capital gained from the sale of stake in its Hủa Na, Đakđring, Nhơn Trạch 1 projects.

For the remaining seven projects, investment capital will come by increasing capital or by calling for more shareholders since at that time PV Power will become a joint stock company instead of PetroVietnam’s subsidiary, which it is, at present. As planned, PV Power will sell 49 per cent of its stake later this year, with priority given to strategic investors.

PV Power is the second largest power producer in Việt Nam after the Electricity of Việt Nam. It produces and sells electricity and repairs and maintains power plants. It also provides equipment and spare parts, sells coal to power plants and develops power projects.

It has charter capital of VNĐ21.7 trillion (US$960 million). Currently, it operates eight power plants --four gas-fired power plants, three hydropower plants and one coal-fired thermal plant -- with total designed capacity of 4,208MW.

In 2016, PV Power contributed 21 billion kWh to the national grid. Besides the nine gas-fired power projects, the company also plans to invest in four coal-fired thermal projects. — VNS