www.businessweek.com
June 22, 2010
Vietnam has announced plans to build eight nuclear power plants by 2030 as the Southeast Asian country strives to meet rising energy demand. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung has approved eight nuclear facilities, each with at least four reactors, to be built in central Vietnam with the total output of 15,000MWs to 16,000MWs over the next two decades, the government said on its Web site Wednesday. The plan calls for "safe and efficient exploitation of nuclear power plants" and a gradual increase in Vietnamese companies participating in the design, construction, operation and maintenance of the plants.
The government said nuclear power would become one of the country's major energy sources by 2030. Currently, hydro power contributes more than a third of the country's energy output. In November, Vietnam's National Assembly approved the construction of two nuclear power plants in the central province of Ninh Thuan. Last year, Vietnam signed a deal with Russia under which a Russian firm will help build the first plant. Construction is to start in 2014 and be completed in 2020.
Construction of the two plants with the total capacity of 4,000MWs is expected to cost $11 billion. Vietnam's demand for power is expected to grow by 16% a year until 2015, according to government projections, and the country's booming economy has made it difficult for supply to keep pace with demand.
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