Tata Power scouts for local partner for Vietnam project

Company has signed an agreement with the Vietnamese govt for setting up the thermal power plant in that country

Private power firm Tata Power today said it is looking for a local partner in Vietnam for the proposed 1,320 MW project in the Southeast Asian country.

"We are looking for a local partner in Vietnam, we would like to keep 80% of the equity in the project," Tata Power Managing Director Anil Sardana told reporters here.

The company has signed an agreement with the Vietnamese government for setting up the thermal power plant in that country. The pact was signed during the meeting of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Nguyen Phu Trong on Wednesday.

The project, consisting of two units of 660 MW each, is likely to come up at an investment of over Rs 10,000 crore. The company bagged the Long Phu 2 power project earlier this year.

The thermal power plant, which will be based on imported coal, is likely to be commissioned by 2019-20, Sardana said.

The project will be designed, engineered, procured, contracted, constructed, owned, operated and maintained through a BOT Company owned by Tata Power and additional investors, with Tata Power as the lead member and will reach commercial operation in accordance with agreements with the Vietnam side.

Tata Power generates about 8,521 MW of power from energy sources like thermal (coal, gas, oil), hydroelectric, solar, wind and geothermal energy. It has generation capacities in the states of Jharkhand, West Bengal, Gujarat, and Karnataka.