Power Company Limited (AES Mong Duong) on October 26 announced the successful completion of Mong Duong II BOT Coal-fired power project (Mong Duong II).  This is the largest private sector power project in Vietnam and the country's first new private sector power plant to be commissioned in the last ten years. Mong Duong II entirely entered commercial operations in May 2015, six months ahead of schedule. Speaking at the ceremony, David Stone, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Managing Director of AES Mong Duong said the completion of Mong Duong II has been a significant milestone for both Vietnam and AES.  "We would like to express many thanks to the Government of Vietnam for the cooperation and support extended to the project over the past years. We are also proud that the majority of the work was performed by Vietnamese workers and we were able to work nearly 44 million man hour safety which was our number one goal on a project and also the key factor that help our project to be completed much earlier than our commitment to the government," he said. Started in December 2010 in the north-eastern Quang Ninh province's Mong Duong ward, the Mong Duong II has two units with a total gross capacity of 1,240 MW and investment of approximately 2.1 billion USD. The plant was built under a Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement and will be transferred to the government after 25 years. After the successful completion of construction as well as inspections and testing process, the plant is expected to add significantly to the national power grid with more than 7.6 billion kWh of electricity annually. "Due to its economic growth, Vietnam is experiencing a rapidly growing rate of energy consumption. We always see Vietnam as an important market with a number of potential opportunities beyond Mong Duong II, especially in the context of successful conclusion of Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations," Andres Gluski, AES President and CEO, said. According to the Institute of Energy and the National Centre for Socio-Economic Information and Forecast, Vietnam's power demand and GDP are expected to grow by 10.5 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively, over the next five years. The Vietnamese Government has plans to increase the country's installed capacity by more than 60GW over the next five years. Success at Mong Duong II will provide the conditions for AES Mong Duong to continuously implement the Mong Duong III Coal-fired Power Plant in the province's Dam Ha district. AES-VCM Mong Duong Power Company Limited was formed by three shareholders from subsidiaries of the AES Corporation from the US (51 percent), Posco Energy Corporation from the Republic of Korea (30 percent) and China Investment Corporation from China (19 percent). The project's EPC contractors include Doosan Heavy Industries Vietnam Co. Ltd. and its subsidiaries.-VNA