Nam Dinh power station

Part of the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project.

Download full dataset

Report an error

Related categories:

Oil & Gas power stations Health Effects of Gas Plants Oil and gas extraction Oil and gas pipelines LNG terminals

Part of the Global Coal Plant Tracker, a Global Energy Monitor project.

Download full dataset

Report an error

Related coal trackers:

Global Coal Mine Tracker Global Coal Terminals Tracker Global Coal Project Finance Tracker

Nam Dinh power station is a power station in Hai Ninh, Hai Hau, Nam Dinh, Vietnam with multiple units of varying statuses none of which are currently operating. It is also known as Hai Hau power station.

Location

Table 1: Project-level location details

Plant name	Location	Coordinates (WGS 84)
Nam Dinh power station	Hai Ninh, Hai Hau, Nam Dinh, Vietnam	20.1012, 106.21355 (approximate)

The map below shows the approximate location of the power station.

Loading map...

{"type":"ROADMAP","minzoom":false,"maxzoom":false,"types":["ROADMAP","SATELLITE","HYBRID","TERRAIN"],"mappingservice":"googlemaps3","width":"600px","height":"500px","centre":false,"title":"","label":"","icon":"","lines":[],"polygons":[],"circles":[],"rectangles":[],"copycoords":false,"static":false,"visitedicon":"","wmsoverlay":false,"zoom":5,"layers":[],"controls":["pan","zoom","type","scale","streetview","rotate"],"zoomstyle":"DEFAULT","typestyle":"DEFAULT","autoinfowindows":false,"resizable":false,"kmlrezoom":false,"poi":true,"cluster":false,"clustergridsize":60,"clustermaxzoom":20,"clusterzoomonclick":true,"clusteraveragecenter":true,"clusterminsize":2,"imageoverlays":[],"kml":[],"gkml":[],"searchmarkers":"","fullscreen":false,"scrollwheelzoom":false,"locations":[{"text":"","title":"","link":"","lat":20.1012,"lon":106.21355,"icon":""}]}

Project Details

Table 2: Unit-level details

Unit name	Status	Fuel(s)	Capacity (MW)	Technology	CHP	Start year	Retired year
Phase 1 Unit 1	pre-permit	coal - anthracite	600	unknown	–	2026	–
Phase 1 Unit 2	pre-permit	coal - anthracite	600	unknown	–	2026	–
Phase 2 Unit 1	cancelled	coal - unknown	600	unknown	–	–	–
Phase 2 Unit 2	cancelled	coal - unknown	600	unknown	–	–	–
Unit 1	announced	liquefied natural gas	600	not found	not found	not found	–
Unit 2	announced	liquefied natural gas	600	not found	not found	not found	–
Unit 3	announced	liquefied natural gas	600	not found	not found	not found	–
Unit 4	announced	liquefied natural gas	600	not found	not found	not found	–

CHP is an abbreviation for Combined Heat and Power. It is a technology that produces electricity and thermal energy at high efficiencies. Coal units track this information in the Captive Use section when known.

Table 3: Unit-level ownership and operator details

Unit name	Owner	Parent
Phase 1 Unit 1	Taekwang Vina Industry JSC	–
Phase 1 Unit 2	Taekwang Vina Industry JSC	–
Phase 2 Unit 1	Taekwang Vina Industry JSC [100.0%]	–
Phase 2 Unit 2	Taekwang Vina Industry JSC [100.0%]	–
Unit 1	Taekwang Vina Industry	Taekwang Vina Industry JSC
Unit 2	Taekwang Vina Industry	Taekwang Vina Industry JSC
Unit 3	Taekwang Vina Industry	Taekwang Vina Industry JSC
Unit 4	Taekwang Vina Industry	Taekwang Vina Industry JSC

Background

In Dec. 2013, Nam Định provincial authorities said they would support the construction of a 2,400-MW coal plant by the Korean Taekwang Vina Company, a subsidiary of the Taekwang Group. The plant would cost $4.5 billion, and is slated to begin construction in 2014; two units, with 1,200 MW capacity, would come online in 2017, and the other two would come online in 2021. Site preparation work has begun.

In June 2014, Taekwang signed a joint agreement with Saudi company First National Operation & Maintenance Co. (NOMAC), a subsidiary of ACWA Power, to build the first 1,200-MW, $2 billion phase of the plant. POSCO Engineering & Construction was selected as the preferred engineering, procurement, & construction (EPC) bidder.

In June 2015, Vietnam's prime minister pushed the project forward, directing the Ministry of Industry & Trade to aid the Taekwang-ACWA consortium in lining up investors for the project. The project would use coal provided by state coal mining group Vinacomin. Vietnam is planning to exploit its Red River coal basin, which is estimated to have reserves of over 230 million tonnes.

In January 2016, the Ministry of Industry & Trade signed a build-operate-transfer (BOT) agreement with the Taekwang-ACWA consortium. In April 2017, Vinacomin reached a coal supply agreement with the project's sponsors. As of November 2016, construction was scheduled to begin in June 2017.

In July 2017, the Nam Định 1 project received an investment certficate, making it the seventh foreign-invested build-operate-transfer (BOT) project to be licensed in the country.

In June 2018, it was reported ACWA Power was working with China Energy Engineering’s China Gezhouba Group International Engineering on the project. China Gezhouba became the project's EPC contractor, despite the 2013 announcement stating that POSCO would be the EPC contractor.

In September 2020, Tran Van Chung, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Nam Dinh Provincial Party Committee, announced that after eleven years of planning that a first step toward building the plant would be taken with the construction of a road in the coastal economic zone where the plant would be located. Chung also announced that development of the coal plant itself would begin in October or November.

Units 1-2 delayed, units 3-4 cancelled

According to the Revised Power Development Plan VII (2016), the status of the project is as follows:

• Phase I, Unit 1 - 600 MW - Planned with Investor identified (i.e. pre-permit development) - 2020
• Phase I, Unit 2 - 600 MW - Planned with Investor identified (i.e. pre-permit development) - 2021
• Phase II, Unit 1 - 600 MW - Cancelled
• Phase II, Unit 2 - 600 MW - Cancelled

In June 2019, the completion date for Unit 1 was delayed to 2024 and the completion date for Unit 2 was delayed to 2025 in the Ministry Of Industry And Trade's report on the implementation of the revised seventh Power Development Plan (PDP7). In February 2020 the National Steering Committee on power development stated that Unit 1 was scheduled to be commissioned in Q1 2025 and Unit 2 in Q3 2025. In October 2020, at a conference on land acquisition, compensation, assistance in land clearance, and resettlement for the implementation of the project, a representative of the Nam Dinh 1 Thermal Power Co., Ltd described how the project investor was planning to officially sign the BOT contract with the Government of Vietnam by early November 2020. Following this, the investor would transfer all the funding to implement the project, including compensation money for the local community. Construction of the project was estimated to start by the end of 2020.

On July 4, 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Trade appeared to provide an update on the draft PDP. The document’s list of major power projects planned for 2021-2030 (PDF pages 18-20) includes the project. At this time, contracts were under negotiation and a target completion date was unknown.

In May 2023, Vietnam officially approved the updated power development plan (PDP8). Under this plan, the country will domestically generate 20% of its electricity needs with coal by 2030 and fully phase out coal-fired power stations by 2050. The plan involved increasing energy generation using coal to a peak of 30 GW and replacing all other outstanding coal projects with LNG or renewables. PDP8 listed Nam Dinh I among the projects that were "behind schedule, facing difficulties in changing shareholders, arranging capital". The proposal was not officially cancelled, but it must either move forward by June 2024 or be terminated.

According to reports from May 2023, ACWA Power had withdrawn from the project. ACWA Power's 2022 annual report, published in May 2023, stated that the company had transferred its shares to "a new partner."

In June 2023, the general director of Taekwang Power Holdings stated that despite a decade of delays, the company would be continuing to pursue the project. Construction had reportedly not begun because of financial problems and leadership changes. The company stated that pre-construction procedures would be completed by the end of 2023. The power station was still planned for two 600 MW units, a $2 billion investment and supplying power to the Nam Dinh province.

Proposed pivot to LNG

In October 2023, Vietnam Gulf of Gulf Energy Development Group approached Taekwang Power about the possibility of cooperating on the development of Nam Dinh power station using LNG as the fuel rather than coal.

In November 2023, the power station proposal was described as "at risk" of termination (Google translate). The proposed co-investment between Gulf Group and Taekwang Power would reportedly be favorable, as proactively pivoting to a gas-fired power station would be more attractive and aligned with Vietnam's long term energy planning. The Nam Dinh Provincial People's Committee had reportedly debated the proposal and was in support of the pivot.

In March 2024, the planned pivot to LNG was still in development. Nam Dinh Province and Gulf Energy reportedly hoped to sign a new Memorandum of Understanding for the project.

Financing

The Investment Certificate for the power station was issued in January 2017. The sponsors will finance the project on a 75:25 debt to equity ratio – seeking US$1.56 billion in debt. Lenders in discussion for funding the bank include the export credit agencies Export–Import Bank of Korea (Kexim) and Korea Trade Insurance Corporation (K-sure), and the banks Mizuho Financial Group (Lead Arranger), DBS, DZ Bank, Korea Development Bank, MUFG, and Standard Chartered. Financial close is expected in mid-2018.

In August 2018 Project Finance International reported the sponsors were looking to Chinese banks to fund the plant. In September 2018 Standard Chartered announced that it would no longer finance new coal-fired power plants.

In December 2019 ACWA Power and Taekwang Power signed a $1.89 billion Sinosure-backed loan to finance construction of the $2.52 billion project. IJGlobal has reported that five Chinese banks – Bank of China, China Construction Bank, China Development Bank, China Export-Import Bank and China Minsheng Bank – will provide the debt. There has been speculation that Agricultural Bank of China and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China may also be involved in the finance deal. As of November 2020, the project had not reached financial close.

An October 2021 report by GreenID listed the Nam Dinh power station as one of 18 coal-fired power stations in Vietnam that was struggling to secure financing. Given that China, Japan, and South Korea have all committed to stop financing new coal-fired power stations, it will be extremely difficult for any of these projects to secure funding in the future. In March 2022, Report No. 1562 by the Office of the Government of Vietnam stated that the plant was financially troubled.

Just Energy Transition Partnership

In December 2022, Vietnam and a coalition of countries led by the European Union and the UK concluded a Just Energy Transition Partnership agreement with US$15.5 billion to fund the development and implementation of a plan to cap and then phase out unabated coal generation. The agreement proposed reducing Vietnam’s coal fleet capacity from 37 GW to 30.2 GW by 2030 and a path to “phasing out unabated coal-fired power generation after those dates.” As of January 2023, the Global Coal Plant Tracker estimated Vietnam had 24.7 GW in coal capacity, with a further 6.1 GW under construction. The deal noted a detailed plan would be finalized by November 2023 to guide the long-term transition plan.

Public opposition

About 300 households are being resettled for the project. Local people have expressed concerns about the effects of pollution on farming and fishing in the area.

Articles and Resources

Additional data

To access additional data, including interactive maps of the power stations, downloadable datases, and summary data, please visit the Global Coal Plant Tracker and the Global Oil and Gas Plant Tracker on the Global Energy Monitor website.