Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party in October instructed government authorities to revise plans to build nuclear power plants with Russian and Japanese assistance, with a view to delaying them due to the government’s tight finances, it was learned on Sunday from party and government sources.
The government is now working on a comprehensive revision of the plan and intends to submit a report to the National Assembly, according to the sources.
According to one of the sources, a considerable investment at the present time is “extremely difficult” given the financial situation of the government. Vietnam also plans to import coal and liquefied natural gas to feed its power plants, as the country strives to meet growing demand for electricity, the Ministry of Industry and Trade said.
Starting 2017, the country will import large amounts of coal to feed its thermoelectric plants, with the amount gradually increasing to some 85 million tons of coal by 2030, a ministry official said at a seminar, entitled “Thermoelectricity technology and environment,” here.
Domestic sources of coal in the coming years can supply 45 million to 50 million tons for thermoelectricity development to generate a total output of some 15,000 megawatts (MW), but that will not be sufficient in the longer term, the official said. The country also plans to import liquefied natural gas after 2023 to jointly feed some gas-fired power plants in its southern region.
Vietnam has now fully tapped its potential of large- and medium-sized hydroelectricity. It will start to develop small-sized hydroelectric plants after 2020, according to the ministry. Vietnam is preparing to build its first nuclear power plant with a capacity of 4,000 MW in the central province of Ninh Thuan, which is scheduled to become operational by 2028. PNA