HANOI – Vietnam Oil and Gas Group, or PVN, will continue to invest in power projects in anticipation of future profits even though Vietnam Electricity (EVN) had owed it a combined VND10 trillion by October last year.
PVN chairman Phung Dinh Thuc told the local media early this week that investment in power generation is one of the five business fields of the group and this will continue in the future.
Apart from the thermal power projects that the group has been developing, PVN is seeking to get involved in five coal-fired power projects which EVN returned to the Government. They are Vung Ang 1, Thai Binh 2, Long Phu 1, Song Hau 1 and Quang Trach 1.
These projects are under the sixth and seventh national master power development plans, with each having a capacity of 1,200 megawatts and requiring US$1.5 billion.
The first two projects, Vung Ang 1 and Thai Binh 2, have been approved by the Government to run on domestic coal, while PVN is seeking suppliers of non-price-subsidized coal.
Thuc said the cost estimate of coal supply for thermal power plants following market prices was currently a concern of PVN given the slow power price hikes and the VND10-trillion debt of EVN.
PVN has stressed a power price that ensures a profit of 10% a year for each project, said Thuc, but the Government now wants stable yet low prices, so PVN must wait for the future when power prices are adjusted up.
