Japan’s Jera strives to fire up Nghi Son LNG power plant by 2030

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Japanese energy company Jera and its Vietnamese partner plan to put the Nghi Son LNG-fired power plant into operation in the fourth quarter of 2030.

The investors said they wish to obtain authorities’ in- principal approval for the investment soon, adding that the project would help ensure energy security in the northern region towards Vietnam’s net-zero emission pledge made at COP 26.

Jera’s Kawagoe LNG-fired power plant in Japan. Photo courtesy of Jera.

The 1,500-MW Nghi Son LNG project features in the newly approved power development plan VIII (PDP VIII) as an important and prioritized project. Jera and its partner, Vietnamese conglomerate Sovico, started working on the project in 2022 and submitted a pre-feasibility study for the project to the central province of Thanh Hoa in July 2023.

Jera a joint venture between Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) and Chubu Electric Power Company (Chubu), is the owner of thermal power plants totaling 70 GW, the highest figure in Japan. The firm also operates LNG terminals accounting for half of thermal power generation in Japan.

In June 2020, American business Millennium expressed its willingness to invest in the Nghi Son LNG electricity center, with an investment of $7 billion under the build-own-operate (BOO) format. The project features a $5-billion LNG-fired power plant with a capacity of 4,800 MW and a $2-billion terminal system supplying eight million tons of gas yearly.

Nghi Son, a key economic zone in central Vietnam, is home to the Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC (NSRP), Nghi Son steel complex, thermal power plants, cement factories, and others.

Nghi Son Refinery and Petrochemical LLC, the largest of its kind in Vietnam, is a $9 billion refinery co-owned by Petrovietnam, Kuwait Petroleum Europe B.V. (KPE), and Japan’s Mitsui Chemical and Idemitsu Kosan Co. Currently, the only other oil refinery in Vietnam is the Dung Quat facility in the central province of Quang Ngai.

In April, Anh Phat Investment Construction-Trading JSC, a local firm, kicked off the VND3.94 trillion ($168 million) expansion of its gas & LNG complex in the central province of Thanh Hoa. The project, located in the Nghi Son Economic Zone, features a 165,000 sqm bonded warehouse, a port to host ships of up to 30,000 tons, and a wharf to welcome vessels of up to 70,000 tons. It also offers support services in oil refining and petrochemicals.

The project aims to upgrade the facilities for supplying gasoline and LNG to Vietnam’s northern and north-central regions.