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Delta Offshore Energy’s Bac Lieu LNG has signed the principal agreement on grid connection with Vietnam’s National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT) for its planned 3,200 MW LNG-to-power project in Bac Lieu province.
The agreement allows Bac Lieu LNG to evacuate power into Vietnam’s national electricity grid via the 500kV Bac Lieu – Thot Not transmission line, according to a statement by Delta Offshore Energy (DOE).
DOE noted that the transmission line was included in Power Development Plan 8 (PDP8) on in May 2023.
The new deal establishes the technical, investment, metering, protection, control, and cybersecurity framework for connecting the power plant.
DOE said that project includes four generating units connecting through a dedicated 500 kV switchyard (SPP) designed on a 3/2 breaker scheme, and a double-circuit 500 kV transmission line (approximately 130 km, phase-split conductors) from the plant’s switchyard to the 500 kV Thot Not substation.
According to DOE, phased commercial operation is targeted for 2030 (Unit 1: March; Unit 2: June; Unit 3: September; Unit 4: December).
The project aligns fully with the PDP8, which has been revised by a decision in April last year, it said
US-funded study
DOE said the Bac Lieu LNG-to-power plant is a “nationally important investment project that will address national priorities of enhancing energy security.”
“In addition, the international feasibility study for the transmission line was funded by a grant from the United States Trade Development Agency (USTDA) and has been completed as well as submitted to the relevant Vietnamese authorities as a gift from the US to Vietnam,” the company said.
The international feasibility study was conducted by Black & Veatch and the Institute of Energy of Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade.
DOE said the feasibility study enables the owner of the transmission line to use the engineering study to issue a request for proposal (RFP) to contractors globally interested in building the line.
This international feasibility study also considers various commercial models to attract various funding sources including both public and private capital from abroad, it said.
DOE’s project is delayed as the company said in 2023 that it expects to start work in 2024.
Back in 2021, US engineering and construction giant Bechtel secured a front-end engineering design contract from DOE to provide services for the combined cycle gas turbine power plant in the Bac Lieu province.
In addition, DOE awarded a contract to a unit of Sweden’s Stena for the jetty-less floating terminal.
Stena Power & LNG Solutions completed model testing of its technology, including a regas platform and a floating storage unit, for the LNG-to-power project in 2021.
Last year, Norway’s Seasystems and Stena Bulk signed a cooperation agreement to promote floating LNG infrastructure solutions.
The agreement gives Scana’s Seasystems exclusive rights to market, sell, and deliver Stena’s patented jettyless LNG technologies, while the technologies and related patents remain owned by Stena Bulk.
