VNEEP - National progaram on Energy Efficer and Conservation

The plant, which is scheduled for completion by June 2016, is projected to cost $793.5 million. The other capital source is a $370 million loan from Germany's KfW Bankengruppe. The remaining sum comes from state-owned Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) and the Vietnamese Government.

"Viet Nam's power consumption has grown 15 per cent a year over the past decade, and will continue to rise at a double-digit pace for the foreseeable future," said Anthony Jude, director of ADB's Energy Division for Southeast Asia. "Viet Nam desperately needs more electricity, and the additional power supply will support economic and social development in the Mekong Delta."

The O Mon Power Plant 4 is hoped to provide a more reliable supply of power to the Cuu Long (Mekong) Delta, support expanded industrial activity, spur new livelihood opportunities, and reduce dependence on hydroelectricity tapped from other regions. It is aligned with Viet Nam's power sector development plan, which aims to more than triple energy capacity from 18,500MW in 2010 to 60,000MW by 2020.

The project will save approximately 600,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year compared to coal-based alternatives, possibly qualifying the facility for carbon credits.

A second plant at the complex is to be put on the market for private investors, while the Government of Japan is funding two others in conjunction with EVN.

The O Mon Thermal Power Complex, which will have 3,600 MW of generating capacity when complete, will also support the development of Viet Nam's offshore natural gas reserves. A consortium of foreign and local oil companies will tap one block in the Gulf of Thailand to supply the O Mon facility. The first turbine of the O Mon Power Plant 1 joined the national grid in 2008.

By LM