The plant, built in Tuy Phong district at a cost of VND36.7 trillion, has two groups of turbine with a combined design capacity of 1,200MW. It is expected to generate 7.2 billion kWhs a year, or 5% of the country’s total electricity output.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai addressing the ground-breaking ceremony

The first turbine will come at full steam in 2017 and the second will be put into operation in the following year.

It will be built by a consortium of contractors from Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction of the Republic of Korea, Mitsubishi Corporation of Japan and Vietnamese partners under aUS$1.36 billion engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract.

85% of the EPC contract value is sourced from the Export-Import Bank of Korea (KEXIM), the Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (KSURE), the Japan bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) and Japan’s Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI).

At the ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai stressed Vinh Tan 4 will help ease power shortages, particularly when the domestic demand is predicted to rise sharply from 2017-2019.

He asked the consortium of contractors to keep to schedule, pay attention to site clearance and resettlement, and ensure financial transparency, quality and workplace safety.

Vinh Tan 4 is part of the Vinh Tan Power Centre with a total design capacity of up to 5,600MW. Once the four power plants are operational, they will turn Binh Thuan into a big energy generator of the country.