The Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) and the PetroVietnam Technical Services Corp. (PTSC) signed an EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract worth 1.2 billion USD for the Long Phu 1 thermoelectric power plant on Dec. 28.

Invested by PetroVietnam, the 1,200 MW Long Phu 1 is the first in the three coal-fueled thermo power plants of the Long Phu Electricity Centre built in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang .

Covering an area of 115 ha, the two-turbine plant is expected to use effective and environmentally-friendly technologies and materials imported from Indonesia and Australia .

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Le Duong Quang hailed the investor’s great efforts in implementing the project.

He asked the investor and the EPC contractor to concentrate all resources, machines and equipment for the implementation of the project so as to put into operation the first turbine in 2014 and the second one year later, thus adding 7.8 billion kWh of electricity to the national grid per year.

According to PetroVietnam, the Long Phu 1 plant has a total investment of nearly 1.9 trillion VND with 30 percent sourced from the group’s development investment capital and the remaining coming from loans.

On the same day, the PetroVietnam Construction JSC (PVX) and the PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corp. (PVEP) signed in Hanoi a contract to sell the PVEP stake in the PVEP Thai Binh to PVX./.