HCMC – The US$2-billion liquefied natural gas-fueled power plant project in the northern province of Quang Ninh has lagged behind schedule after one year of breaking ground.

The facility, set to cover some 60 hectares of land in Cam Thinh Ward in Cam Pha City, has been put on hold, it was announced at a meeting chaired by Cao Tuong Huy, vice chairman of the provincial government, on October 10. The project, which is executed by a consortium comprising PetroVietnam Power Corporation, Vietnam Mechanical Assembly JSC and two Japanese investors, Tokyo Gas and Marubeni, has yet to have a legal entity and a feasibility study report, the local media reported. The provincial government urged the project's investors to promptly complete all relevant procedures to speed up work on the LNG power plant project. The government of Cam Pha City was told to hand over the cleared site to the investors in November. In October last year, the northern province issued a decision approving in principle the investor of the LNG power plant project, with a capacity of 1,500 megawatts in phase one, and held a groundbreaking ceremony. Besides, the project was added to the seventh master power plan. This was the first power plant using imported liquefied natural gas in the northern region. Once in place, the facility will supply around nine billion kWh of electricity annually to the national power grid and contribute some VND57 trillion to the provincial budget in 25 years.