Five contracts to build the 2.1 billion USD Mong Duong 2 thermal power plant in the northern province of Quang Ninh were signed on April 22.

The contracts, between the investor, Mong Duong AES-TKV, along with its local partners, include water supply and land leasing for the plant’s construction, the BOT contract with the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the purchase of power, along with government guarantees.

The Mong Duong 2 thermo power project is co-sponsored by American Electric Supply, Inc (AES) and the Vietnam National Coal and Minerals Industries Group (Vinacomin-TKV), with an estimated capacity of 1,200 MW. The US group has contributed 90 percent of the capital and Vinacomin, 10 percent, to form the joint-venture, Mong Duong AES-TVK.

The Mong Duong 2 is the first power project of the BOT kind signed since 2001, Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang said at the signing ceremony.

The signing of the contracts four years after the first MoU in 2006 will facilitate other foreign-invested BOT power projects in Vietnam, he added.

According to US Ambassador to Vietnam Michael W. Michalak, the BOT contract signing for the project is a significant manifestation of the rapid growth of economic cooperation between Vietnam and the US .

It is also evidence of AES’s long-term commitment to Vietnam’s energy development via the public-private partnership (PPP) model, he added.

The ambassador also said he hopes that the Ministry of Planning and Investment will soon make laws on PPPs to create equal competition for foreign investors in Vietnam .

With an expected annual output of 8.1 billion kWh, the project, once in full operation in 2015, is hoped to help meet power demands for national socio-economic development./.