Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh presses button to inaugurate 1.4 billion-USD LNG power plant complex in Dong Nai

On December 14, Politburo member and Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of Nhon Trach 3 and 4 Power Plants, unveiling a plaque to the project celebrating the 14th National Party Congress.

Also attending the ceremony were member of the Party Central Committee (PCC) and Chairman of the PCC’s Inspection Commission Tran Sy Thanh; member of the PCC and Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien.

Leaders of Dong Nai province attending the ceremony included: Vu Hong Van, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial Delegation of National Assembly Deputies; Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Kim Long, Member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Ho Van Ha, Provincial Party Committee member, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and delegates perform the button-pressing ceremony to inaugurate the project. Photo: Cong Nghia

Speaking at the ceremony, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh stated: As the whole country is actively striving to successfully complete the goals and tasks of 2025, and the entire 2021-2025 term, achieving accomplishments to celebrate the 14th National Party Congress, the inauguration and operation of Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 gas power plants - Vietnam's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) power plants - is a particularly important "piece of the puzzle" in consolidating and ensuring national energy security and meeting the requirements for rapid and sustainable development of the country in the new period.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh speaks at the project inauguration ceremony. Photo: Cong Nghia

According to the Prime Minister, firmly ensuring national energy security is an important component of national security; it is a strategic foundation and an urgent requirement for the rapid and sustainable development of the country in the new period, especially in the context of many fluctuations in the international energy market, the requirements for technology costs, rapid energy transition, and the very complex and extreme response to climate change.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh unveils a plaque to the project celebrating the 14th National Party Congress. Photo: Cong Nghia

From the practical situation in our country in recent years, it shows that for every 1 percentage point of economic growth, electricity growth must be 1.5-2 times higher than the rate of economic growth. Currently, the maximum electricity consumption capacity nationwide is 54,500MW, so the annual electricity growth is from 6,500-8,200MW. Therefore, the demand for a stable electricity supply and the country's electricity usage is very large, especially in the coming time, as we focus on developing strategic breakthroughs such as high technology, semiconductor chip manufacturing, building large national data centers, digital transformation, green transition, building high-speed rail systems, urban railways, etc.

Comrade Vu Hong Van, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Head of the Provincial Delegation of National Assembly Deputies attends the project inauguration ceremony. Photo: Cong Nghia

The Prime Minister affirmed: With more than 9 billion kWh of electricity supplied annually from the project, the operation of Vietnam's first LNG power plant complex has laid the foundation for the country's gas power market (a proactive and stable power source), marking an important step forward in building a flexible, clean, stable, and modern national energy system with "6 firsts": the lowest investment cost, the largest scale, the most modern technology, the largest capacity, the shortest EPC contractor selection time (11 months), and the most competitive commercial electricity price.

Comrade Nguyen Van Ut, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, Chairman of the Dong Nai Provincial People's Committee attends the project inauguration ceremony. Photo: Cong Nghia

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh assessed: The project brings particularly important significance to the development of the country, economic regions, and localities. Especially, it affirms the efforts to implement the commitment to achieve net-zero emissions, ensuring Vietnam's carbon neutrality goal by 2050 at COP26; ensuring energy security goes hand in hand with protecting the environment and national resources.

At the ceremony, the Prime Minister awarded a certificate of merit from the Prime Minister to PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power). The Ministry of Finance awarded certificates of merit to 6 collectives and 18 individuals belonging to PV Power.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh awards a certificate of merit to PetroVietnam Power Corporation. Photo: Cong Nghia

Previously, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and other delegates also performed the ceremony of unveiling a plaque to the project celebrating the 14th National Party Congress for the Nhon Trach 3 and 4 Power Plant Project.

The Nhon Trach 3 and 4 Power Plant Project is the first cluster of projects in Vietnam to use imported LNG as fuel, playing a pioneering role in the roadmap to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and realize the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050. These projects have a total investment of approximately 1.4 billion USD. With a total capacity of 1,624MW, the Nhon Trach 3 and 4 Power Plants are expected to supply over 9 billion kWh/year when operating stably, adding a large base-load power source to the system, especially in the Southern region.

By Pham Tung-Translated by Mai Nga, Thu Ha