PVPS wins $610m power plant deal

HA NOI — The PetroVietnam Power Service Company (PVPS) yesterday announced its winning of VND10.4 trillion (US$610 million) worth of contracts to repair and maintain the Ca Mau 1 and Ca Mau 2 power plants.

According to the contracts, signed in the capital yesterday between PVPS and the PetroVietnam Camau Power Company (PVPower Camau), PVPS will be assigned to carry out the repair and maintenance of the 2 power plants in the initial 100,000 hours of operation, equivalent to 12 years.

According to the PVPower Camau, a subsidiary of PetroVietnam, the contracts play an important role in the development of both its business and the country’s power sector.

Ca Mau 1 power plant, which has a designed output of 750 MW, has generated a combined 2.8 billion KWh since full operation began in March this year.

Meanwhile, Ca Mau 2 power plant, which has a similar capacity to Ca Mau 1, is running in the testing period and will be officially operational next month.

PVPS last month signed a $250 million subcontract with Siemens AG for the maintenance of 6 turbines and 6 generators of the Ca Mau 1 and Ca Mau 2 power plants, which were supplied by the German industry giant. —

Canon to build fourth plant in VN

HUNG YEN — Canon Viet Nam has received the go-ahead from Hung Yen
Provincial authorities to build a high-tech electronic parts factory in Pho Noi Industrial Zone.

The factory – the fourth in Viet Nam built by the Japanese company – is expected to cost US$63.4 million for the first phase of the project, according to Vu Van Minh, head of the Hung Yen Industrial Zone Management Board.

Construction on the 110,000sq.m factory was scheduled to begin this month and to be completed by July next year, he said.

The factory will manufacture and assemble miniature motors used in electronic products, including cameras, laser printers, and photocopy machines. The factory will supply parts to other Canon factories in Viet Nam and other countries in Asia.

“The Government has made high-tech industry a priority for provincial industrial zones,” said an official from the board’s investment division, adding that the Canon’s new investment would help attract other Japanese enterprises to invest in the province in the future.

Hung Yen Province attracted 15 enterprises to the local IZs in the first 11 months of the year, including 12 foreign invested firms, with a total investment capital of US$262 million. —

Malaysian group’s $1.4b power plant in pipeline

HAI DUONG — Malaysia-based JAKS Resources Bhd is completing licensing procedures to build a US$1.4 billion thermoelectric plant in the northern province of Hai Duong, according to Nguyen Xuan Doan, head of the external economic affairs office of the provincial Department of Planning and Investment.

The 1,200MW facility would be the first project in Viet Nam to be carried out under a build-operate-own (BOO) contract, with an operating duration of 50 years, said Doan.

The project was previously approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade and given a go-ahead from Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung. Construction of the project is slated to begin next year, with the plant to go into operation in 2015.

Malaysia topped the list of countries and territories to invest in Viet Nam in the first nine months of this year, with 37 projects worth $14.8 billion, accounting for 4.1 per cent of the total number of projects and 26.4 per cent of the capital registered during the period.

Other Malaysian-invested projects of note include a $9.8 billion steel complex jointly funded by the Lion Group and the Viet Nam Shipbuilding Industry (Vinashin) Group in the central province of Ninh Thuan and a $3.5 billion project to develop urban centres and universities in HCM City. — VNS

Dung Quat hopes for $5b steel plant

QUANG NGAI — Japan’s JFE Steel Group, one of the world’s leading steel makers, has received a good sign from local authorities to build a steel complex in Dung Quat Economic Zone (EZ) in Quang Ngai Province.

Dung Quat EZ Authority’s Investment Promotion Centre director Le Van Dung said yesterday that the province has sent the investor’s plans to the Government for consideration.

The complex, worth US$5 billion in the first phase, is expected to churn out 6-10 million tonnes of steel annually mainly for export, Dung said, adding that the Japanese firm has yet to officially disclose the amount of investment capital for the second phase.

JFE Steel proposed to make steel products for automobile, shipbuilding and mechanical industries, after spending more than a year studying the province’s investment environment, he noted.

Covering 1,000ha of land, the complex will be built within the expanded Dung Quat EZ. Gas generated in the steel manufacturing process will be recovered to generate power.

The power will be used to operate the complex and also sold to Electricity of Viet Nam.

The complex expects to employ between 2,000 and 3,000 workers, two-thirds of which would be engineers and skilled workers.

During a meeting with local authorities last month, the company’s co-operation planning department head Akihiko Ishida said the project would apply advanced technology, with relatively low energy consumption and be environmentally-friendly.

If approved, the complex will be one of the largest steel projects in the zone, along with a joint project by Tycoons and E-United, which will cover 455ha. The capital for the project, first licensed in August 2006, is expected to rise to $3.3 billion.

The first stage of the complex, to be completed by 2010 with a capital of $1.8 billion, will employ 10,000 workers and 300 foreign experts.

The zone has attracted a total registered capital of $10.8 billion during the first 10 months of this year, Trung said, adding that priority will continue to be given to heavy industries with high technology such as shipbuilding, steel, coal power plants and oil refineries. —

Holcim Viet Nam pays $50m for cement plant

HCM CITY — Cement joint venture Holcim Viet Nam will take over a cement factory from the construction and building materials group COTEC under a deal concluded yesterday.

Holcim Viet Nam would pay nearly US$50 million for the group’s affiliate COTEC Cement, the group’s general director, Dao Duc Nghia, told Viet Nam News.

The cement factory has a chartered capital of VND200 billion (US$10,2 million).

“The deal is among Viet Nam’s largest contracts done through a domestic consultancy firm this year,” said To Hai, general director for Viet Capital Securities, whose services were hired for the deal.

Nghia said his group would, after the sale, co-operate with Holcim Viet Nam in cement-related projects. COTEC also operates in the real estate sector.

COTEC Cement was built in 2001 on four hectares of land in HCM City’s Hiep Phuoc Industrial Park and its products entered the market in mid-2003. Its initial capacity was 500,000 tonnes annually, which was increased to 1 million tonnes in April 2007.

Holcim Viet Nam was established in 1994 as a join venture between Switzerland’s Holcim Group and Ha Tien 1 Cement Company. Currently capitalized at US$441 million, the joint venture runs production facilities in the city’s Cat Lai Industrial Park; Thi Vai area in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province; and Hon Chong area in Kien Giang Province, with a combined capacity of 4.6 million tonnes per year.

It has expanded operations into producing and supplying concrete and expects a turnover of 580,000cu.m this year for various projects. —

Solid waste treatment plant planned for Da Nang

Da Nang (VNA) – The Saigon Energy and Environment Technology Joint Stock Company (Saigonentec) has been issued a permit by the central city of Da Nang to build a solid waste treatment plant.

Covering 1.5 ha in the city’s Khanh Son rubbish dump, the facility will have investment capital totaling 100 billion VND (more than 6 million USD).

It will be capable of processing 600 tonnes of nylon bags, plastic products and rubber tires a day to produce industrial oil, plastic granules and industrial coal.

Saigonentec is also permitted to treat medical and industrial waste discharged from hospitals and factories in the city.

The city of Da Nang is committed to realising its plan to become an environmentally-friendly city in the near future.-

O Mon I thermoelectric power plant on trial

Can Tho (VNA) - The Mekong Delta-based O Mon I thermoelectric power plant had its turbine group No. 1 technically connected to the national grid on Oct. 9.

The plant’s first turbine group, which has a capacity of 330 MW, is expected to officially begin generating electricity in early February 2009. Its second turbine will become operational by 2012.

Construction of the O Mon I power plant kicked off in the Mekong Delta city of Can Tho in February 2006. It is estimated to totally cost 6.66 trillion VND (around 404 million USD).

The O Mon I plant is one of the four thermoelectric power projects with a combine capacity of 2,800 MW that will be built in the city from now until 2012.-

Cambodia plans to build nuclear power plant

– Cambodia may develop its first nuclear power plant as early as 2020, a local newspaper reported on September 29.

With hydropower and coal capacity expected to peak in the next decade, nuclear energy is the best option for the country, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

“Cambodia has a long way to go before meeting electricity demand. After 10 years, we will not have enough hydropower capacity,” Sat Samy, a secretary of state for the Ministry of Industry, Mines and Energy, was quoted as saying. He said Cambodia’s nuclear plans are in line with efforts by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to promote atomic energy among member states.

ASEAN energy ministers reached a joint agreement last year in Bangkok to pursue new sources of power for the region’s growing electricity needs.-

Laos, RoK set up joint venture to plant cassava

Two companies from Laos and the Republic of Korea (RoK) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to set up a joint venture to plant and process cassava in Laos .

The joint venture has a total investment of 15 million USD, of which the Borkeo Army Development Enterprise of Laos holds 30 percent of the shares and the RoK’s SM Co. Ltd holds the rest.

The joint venture is planning to grow cassava on 10,000 hectares of land. In the 2008-09 period, it will grow only 1,000 hectares in Vang Vieng district, Vientiane province.

The joint venture also plans to build a processing factory to produce cassava starch and other products for export to the RoK.-

Honda Viet Nam opens 2nd cycle plant

VINH PHUC — Honda Viet Nam yesterday opened a second motorcycle factory, which mainly manufactures scooters in the northern province of Vinh Phuc.

The US$65 million, 300,000sq.m factory is designed to produce 500,000 units annually and possess all the most up-to-date Honda production technologies, according to the Japan-invested firm.

With the new plant, Honda Viet Nam’s annual motorcycle production capacity will total 1.5 million units.

The opening of the second factory will help Honda Viet Nam satisfy the increasing and diversifying demands of Vietnamese customers.

Company general director Koji Onishi said it was a reflection of the company’s desire to expand business in Viet Nam and to effectively contribute to the country’s development.

Japanese Ambassador to Viet Nam Mitsuo Sakaba emphasised that the second motorcycle factory would help Honda Viet Nam better ensure its presence in the domestic market.

Deputy minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang urged the company to focus on the export of vehicles and spare parts and on technological innovations, so as to create the best quality products for Vietnamese customers.

The company reported selling 800,000 units during the first eight months of this year. —