Removing obstacles and implementing key energy projects to meet economic development needs

On the afternoon of January 7, the Ministry of Industry and Trade held an online conference with localities and energy enterprises to implement Directive 01/CT-TTg, dated January 3, 2025 of the Prime Minister. Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien chaired the conference.

Attending the conference at Thanh Hoa bridge were members of the Provincial Standing Committee: Nguyen Van Thi, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee; Nguyen Tien Hieu, Head of the Management Board of Nghi Son Economic Zone and Industrial Parks (MBZNS&CKCN). Also attending were representatives of leaders of relevant departments, agencies and branches.

Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Thi and departments and branches attended the conference at Thanh Hoa bridge.

Previously, on January 3, 2025, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh signed and issued Directive No. 01/CT-TTg on proactive solutions to ensure adequate electricity supply for production, business and people's lives during peak periods in 2025 and the 2026-2030 period. The Directive mentioned that the implementation of power source projects still faces many difficulties in mechanisms and policies, so the expected development of power sources in the 2021-2025 period is only 56.7% of the plan, posing a potential risk of power shortage.

Meanwhile, with the socio-economic development target set much higher than in the past, such as: the national economic growth in 2025 strives to reach over 8%; the period 2026 - 2030 strives to reach double digits, requiring energy sources to grow 1.5 times, with an expected annual average of 12% to over 16% (equivalent to an additional 8,000 - 10,000 MW each year).

Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien chaired the conference. Photo: Industry and Trade Newspaper.

This is a huge challenge, so it is necessary to have a quick solution to develop power sources, especially green and clean power sources; to reduce the risk of power shortage, especially in the period from 2026 to 2028.

In Thanh Hoa, the Nghi Son LNG Thermal Power Plant Project is one of the projects in the list of key national energy projects. The project is planned in the southern area of ​​the NSK, with a scale of more than 68 hectares, with a total investment of more than 2.4 billion USD.

The project was approved for investment in March 2024, issued bidding documents on July 30, 2024 and is expected to open bidding on September 30, 2024 and select investors in November 2024. However, the project implementation process encountered some difficulties, leading to the suspension of bidding procedures to be re-implemented according to the new legal provisions of Decree No. 115/2024/ND-CP of the Government, Regulation issued on September 16, 2024 detailing a number of articles and measures to implement the Law on Bidding on selecting investors to implement investment projects using land.

At the conference, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Thi reported to the Ministry of Industry and Trade specific problems and proposed solutions to remove them.

Standing Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Committee Nguyen Van Thi proposed to remove difficulties in implementing the Nghi Son LNG Thermal Power Plant Project.

Accordingly, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province is actively directing the Management Board of the Industrial Park and Industrial Zones to coordinate with relevant units to complete the bidding documents and is expected to re-approve them before January 15 (before the Electricity Law No. 61/2024/QH15 takes effect on February 1, 2025).

In case of selecting a contractor before this time, Thanh Hoa province requests the Ministry of Industry and Trade to soon have a unified opinion on how to determine the ceiling price of electricity generation as a basis for the inviting party to calculate the ceiling price of electricity generation of the Nghi Son LNG Thermal Power Plant Project and approve the bidding documents as requested by the Management Board of the Nghi Son Economic Zone and Industrial Park; at the same time, have an opinion to direct the Vietnam Electricity Group to give early opinions on the principles of establishing the ceiling price of electricity and the contents of the draft electricity purchase contract of the Nghi Son LNG Thermal Power Plant.

In case the bidding documents cannot be issued before January 15, Thanh Hoa province requests the Ministry of Industry and Trade to promptly submit to the Government and agencies to issue Decrees and Circulars guiding the preparation of bidding documents and guiding documents so that Thanh Hoa province can direct relevant agencies to implement the steps, soon successfully deploy the Nghi Son LNG Thermal Power Plant Project, providing additional energy sources for the country.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has compiled recommendations from Thanh Hoa province in particular and opinions and proposals from localities and businesses at the conference, as a basis for consideration and providing solutions to guide the removal of obstacles in the implementation of new energy projects.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade will also revise the National Power Development Plan for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2050 (Power Plan VIII) before February 28; at the same time, add a number of urgent projects to the Power Plan VIII Implementation Plan to serve as a basis for implementation, promoting the implementation of power source projects, especially gas-fired power projects.

Minh Hang

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/thao-go-vuong-mac-trien-khai-cac-du-an-nang-luong-trong-diem-dap-ung-nhu-cau-phat-trien-kinh-te-xa-hoi-236161.htm