Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh delivering a speech at the meeting
After having heard about the opinion made by Ninh Binh province on stopping the operation of Ninh Binh Thermal Power Plant (NBTPP) with a capacity of 100MW, Mr. Tran Dinh Nhan – EVN’s CEO and President said: with an average output of 600 million kWh/year, this plant plays an important role in ensuring power supply for the North in general, Ninh Binh province and neighboring provinces in particular. In case of a shutdown, the time of shutdown needs to be carefully considered to ensure power supply for the Northern region in the coming years (due to strong growth in load demand while the scale of new additional sources is very small). In addition, it í required to ensure the life of employees, the interests of domestic and foreign investors who own shares in Ninh Binh Thermal Power Joint Stock Company, in which EVN recommended the Prime Minister to allow Ninh Binh Thermal Power JSC., to research and develop LNG gas power projects or clean energy projects at other locations in the province to replace the plant.
Leaders of EVN further clarified that, in recent years, to ensure environmental requirements, improve efficiency and reliability in operation, NBTPP has continuously invested, renovated and upgraded equipment with a cost of about VND 200 billion. The plant is currently collaborating with the World Bank (World Bank) to conduct research to support fuel conversion techniques (combustion with Biomass), using clean and sustainable energy.
CEO and President Tran Dinh Nhan raising EVN's recommendations at the meeting
Regarding the recommendation of relocating the Ninh Binh 220kV Substation, General Director of EVN Tran Dinh Nhan said that at the meeting on May 27, 2022 between EVN and Ninh Binh province, the two sides agreed that in order to relocate the Ninh Binh 220kV substation, it is necessary to complete the investment and put into operation two 220kV replacement substations, Gia Vien and Tam Diep substations together with connection lines.
Gia Vien and Tam Diep 220kV substations are included in the Ninh Binh Provincial Power Development Plan for the period 2016-2025 with a vision to 2035 approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade. However, according to the revised Power Master Plan VII, the operation schedule of Tam Diep 220kV substation is in the period 2026-2030; while Gia Vien 220kV substation is not included in the list of revised Power Master Plan VII. Up to now, these 220kV substations have been updated in the draft Power Master Plan VIII but have not been approved by the Prime Minister, so EVN and its member units do not have sufficient basis to accelerate the progress of investment and construction of projects.
Therefore, EVN recommended the Prime Minister approve the Power Master Plan VIII soon to have a basis to speed up the investment and construction progress of the above-mentioned works.
Giving direction at the working session on the recommendation of Ninh Binh province related to Ninh Binh Thermal Power Plant and the relocation of Ninh Binh 220kV substation, the Prime Minister requested MOIT and EVN to study and implement the works following the roadmap, speeding up the construction progress of Gia Vien 220kV and Tam Diep 220kV substations. The Prime Minister also asked Ninh Binh province to work with Ninh Binh Thermal Power JSC., to ensure the harmonization of the interests of joint-stock enterprises, and at the same time to comply with the Power Master Plan VIII after being approved by competent authorities.