Ha Tinh People’s Committee is proposing to switch the agricultural land fund to the non-agricultural land fund to serve the development of the Vung Ang II thermal power plant.

Ha Tinh People’s Committee signed a document to submit to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MoNRE) to propose the change of 21.6 hectares of agricultural land for use as non-agricultural land for the development of the Vung Ang II thermal power plant.

According to the province, it completed the change of the land purpose of 36.5ha, and the remaining 21.6ha are waiting for approval.

Previously, the province approved in principle to change of 24.42ha of forest land to industrial land to build the thermal power plant’s facilities, such as a slag pipeline, slag yard, cooling pipe discharge, and pumping station, among others.

Located in the central province of Ha Tinh, the Vung Ang II thermal power plant is invested by Vung Ang II Thermal Power LLC (VAPCO), which is a 100 per cent foreign-owned company, combining KEPCO, Mitsubishi, and another Japanese company.

In December 2020, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation signed a loan agreement with VAPCO to finance a loan worth $636 million for the project, under the bank’s Growth Investment Facility.

The loan is co-financed with private financial institutions as well as the Export-Import Bank of Korea. The total co-financing amount is approximately $1.77 billion.

The plant is under construction. The investor is targeting to take it into operation in the third quarter of 2025. Once completed, it will generate 5,000 jobs, 8.529GWh per year to the national power grid, and contribute $13.04 million per year to the state budget.