Construction began on a thermal power plant in the northern province of Thai Binh on February 22.

The plant is being built in My Loc commune, Thai Thuy district, by the Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN) and Japanese contractor Marubeni at a cost of 26.5 trillion VND (1.27 billion USD). Of the investment, 85 percent comes from the Japan International Cooperation Agency’s official development assistance (ODA) and the remaining 15 percent is sourced from the EVN.

Covering 115 hectares, the plant will include two turbines with a combined design capacity of 600MW and an annual electricity production of 3.6 billion KWh.

The first turbine is scheduled to generate power in November 2017, and the second in May 2018.

Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung HoanHoang Hai urged the EVN to work closely with contractors to implement the project in accordance with regulations on investment and construction.

He asked local authorities to pay more attention to the living conditions of displaced residents while increasing inspections of the project’s progress.

Earlier the same day, the Deputy PM held a working session with the Mining Chemical Industry Corporation under the Vietnam National Coal Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) on the implementation of the Amon Nitrat production project, which will have an annual production capacity of 200,000 tonnes.

The project, with a total investment of 5.7 trillion VND, is expected to be operational in January 2015. The plant is scheduled to trial produce Nitric acid in September and Amon Nitrat the following month.-VNA