Facing a lack of coal for power generation, Vietnamese state-ownedenterprises are rushing to look for foreign coal suppliers, the Englishlanguage news website VietNamNet Bridge reported on July 23.
DinhQuang Tri, Deputy General Director of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN),noted that enterprises are importing coal themselves to run thermalpower plants instead of relying on the Vietnam Coal and MineralIndustries Group (Vinacomin), the only domestic coal supplier.
Accordingto Tri, it was very difficult to import coal two to three years ago,when the world market was hot because of high demand from China.However, things are different now.
As China has shut down many power plants run with outdated technologies, the demand from China has decreased.
“It’snow a buyer’s market,” Tri said. “The supply is very abundant with theoverproduction in Australia and Indonesia. The coal price has dropped to80 USD per tonne.”
Three EVN’s power plants with the totalcapacity of 3,000 MW are now using imported coal, including the expandedDuyen Hai 3 (600 MW), Vinh Tan 4 (1,200 MW) and Duyen Hai 3 (1,200 MW).
On average, a 1,200 MW power plant would need some 4 milliontonnes of coal per annum, which means that EVN would need to import 10million tonnes of coal every year.
The Vietnam National Oil andGas Group (PetroVietnam) has also been looking for coal supply sourcesitself instead of expecting supply from Vinacomin.
PetroVietnamis running five thermal power plants with the total capacity of 6,000MW. Of these, three would run with imported coal, including Long Phu 1,Quang Trach 1 and Song Hau 1.
A contract was signed byPetroVietnam and an Australian coal company in February under whichPetroVietnam would import 3 million tonnes of coal a year.
Vietnam anticipates that it will lack coal to run domestic thermal power plants after 2015.
Atleast one third of its thermal power plants will have to run with coalimports, because the domestic coal supply will be just enough for plantsin the northern and central regions.
Vinacomin has been assignedby the Government to look for foreign coal supply sources to preparefor the coal import plan to start after 2015. It is expected thatVietnam will import 6-7 million tonnes of coal in 2016 to serve domesticpower generation.-VNA
DinhQuang Tri, Deputy General Director of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN),noted that enterprises are importing coal themselves to run thermalpower plants instead of relying on the Vietnam Coal and MineralIndustries Group (Vinacomin), the only domestic coal supplier.
Accordingto Tri, it was very difficult to import coal two to three years ago,when the world market was hot because of high demand from China.However, things are different now.
As China has shut down many power plants run with outdated technologies, the demand from China has decreased.
“It’snow a buyer’s market,” Tri said. “The supply is very abundant with theoverproduction in Australia and Indonesia. The coal price has dropped to80 USD per tonne.”
Three EVN’s power plants with the totalcapacity of 3,000 MW are now using imported coal, including the expandedDuyen Hai 3 (600 MW), Vinh Tan 4 (1,200 MW) and Duyen Hai 3 (1,200 MW).
On average, a 1,200 MW power plant would need some 4 milliontonnes of coal per annum, which means that EVN would need to import 10million tonnes of coal every year.
The Vietnam National Oil andGas Group (PetroVietnam) has also been looking for coal supply sourcesitself instead of expecting supply from Vinacomin.
PetroVietnamis running five thermal power plants with the total capacity of 6,000MW. Of these, three would run with imported coal, including Long Phu 1,Quang Trach 1 and Song Hau 1.
A contract was signed byPetroVietnam and an Australian coal company in February under whichPetroVietnam would import 3 million tonnes of coal a year.
Vietnam anticipates that it will lack coal to run domestic thermal power plants after 2015.
Atleast one third of its thermal power plants will have to run with coalimports, because the domestic coal supply will be just enough for plantsin the northern and central regions.
Vinacomin has been assignedby the Government to look for foreign coal supply sources to preparefor the coal import plan to start after 2015. It is expected thatVietnam will import 6-7 million tonnes of coal in 2016 to serve domesticpower generation.-VNA
