Twelve foreign banks will provide loans of $1.46 billion for the Mong Duong 2 coal-fired power project in Vietnam’s northern coal hub province of Quang Ninh, the plant’s operator AES Corporation of the U.S said. The lenders are Korea Eximbank, KSURE, BNP-Paribas, Credit Agricole, HSBC, ING, Mizuho, Natixis, SMBC, Societe Generale, Standard Chartered, and Unicredit with the first is the largest single creditor. The disbursement of loans will begin next month, said Lan Fox, AES managing director cum the project’s director. The two-turbine plant with a combined capacity of 1,240 MW and a total investment of $1.95 billion is slated for construction in the middle of this month. AES and Posco Power will undertake operation and maintenance activities for the plant while Doosan Heavy Industries and Construction will be the plant’s engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor. The facility in Cam Pha Township will be the third of its kind developed under the form of build-operate-transfer (BOT) in Vietnam after the Phu My 2.2 and Phu My 3 plants. Once fully operational in late 2014, the facility will use dust coal coded 6a sourced from provincial mines to generate 8.1 billion kWh of power a year. AES currently owns a 51% stake in the project while Posco Power of South Korea with 30% and China Investment Corporation with 19%. (Dau tu – Investment July 11)
