Thermal power plant Duyen Hai 1 in the southern province of Tra Vinh officially started operating and is now connected to the national grid. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Ha

TRA VINH (Biz Hub) — Thermal power plant Duyen Hai 1 in the southern province of Tra Vinh officially has started operating and is now connected to the national grid.

Le Hai Son, deputy director of the management board for thermal power plant 3 project said yesterday that after two weeks of commercial operations, Duyen Hai 1's first and second turbines are generating nearly 10 million kWh per day.

This year the two turbines, with a designed capacity of 1,245MW, are expected to add 5 billion kWh to the national grid.

Turbine 1 started a trial run on January 31, 2015. The second turbine was connected on April 26, 2015.

Since their trial operations began, the turbines have contributed 1.8 billion KWh to the national grid.

Electricity of Viet Nam's Power Generation Corporation 1 funded the project, part of the Duyen Hai power complex, at a cost of VND111.4 trillion (US$5 billion)

The complex is home to four coal-fired thermal power plants and the Mekong Delta's largest coal port. Turbines 1 and 2 at Duyen Hai 3 are slated to begin commercial operations in late 2016 and 2017, respectively.

By late 2018, an expansion of Duyen Hai 3 should be complete.

In December, the Ministry of Industry and Trade and Malaysia's Teknik Janakuasa Group signed a contract to build Duyen Hai 2.

The plant has a total investment capital of more than VND44.6 trillion ($2 billion), 80 per cent from loans. The plant will use imported coal and two turbines with a total capacity of 1,200 MW.

The plant is expected to start up in 2020 and contribute an additional 30 billion kWh to the national power grid per year. It is also expected to play an important role in ensuring the southern region's energy security. — VNS