The Electricity of Vietnam group (EVN) on August 8 broke the ground for construction of the Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plant in Tuy Phong district, the central province of Binh Thuan.

Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai affirmed that Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plant is one of the country’s key projects and also is the first large-scale coal-fuelled power project in the southern region.

Construction of the plant, together with the Vinh Tan 1 and Vinh Tan 3, will form a power centre under the national electric development plan for the 2006-2015 and will make positive contribution to the development of the national key economic region, Hai said.

The plant, with a total capital of nearly 23.5 trillion VND (1.2 billion USD) has a designed capacity of 1,244MW and can generate around 7.2 billion kWh annually./.