Vietnam plans to import coal from RI

Vietnam state-owned oil and gas group Petrovietnam plans to import around 10 million tons per annum of thermal coal from 2017 onwards mostly from Indonesia and Australia, reports said Tuesday quoting an official at the company.

The coal will be used to fuel power plants in the country, which has in recent years started to cut export of coal to meet growing domestic demand amid new power plant developments and declining coal production at home.

Three thermal coal-fired power plants are scheduled to begin operations in 2017 including two being developed in the Mekong Delta in Vietnam?s south, while the other is scheduled in the central province of Quang Bing. The three plants need a combined total of 10 million tons per annum of coal.

The source said that Petrovietnam Power Coal, a subsidiary of Petrovietnam, has signed initial agreements for a combined volume of 12 million tons per annum with mining companies in Indonesia and Australia, Worldcoal.com said.

Vinacomin, the country?s top mining group, has also been constructing coal-fired power plants. The company is joining Petrovietnam is seeking to import coal from Australia, while the company has been importing a small volume of Indonesian coal since 2011. Vinacomin has also announced plans to import coal from Russia. (*)