Vietnam has postponed the construction work of its first nuclear power plant to until 2020-22 in order to ensure its safety.
Construction was to originally due to begin at the end of this year.
Vietnam Deputy Trade Minister Cao Quoc Hung was reported by Thanh Nien News as confirming at a meeting of the Science, Technology, and Environmental Committee of the National Assembly that construction has been postponed.
The plant is likely to be constructed in the Ninh Thuan province over the next six years.
It will be built by Russian energy firm Rosatom.
Following completion of the four-reactor plant, it is expected to have an annual power generation capacity of 1,000MW.
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By GlobalDataAccording to experts, the delay in this project is not expected to have any huge impact on the total power supply in 2020.
Vietnam has been facing a severe energy crisis, which the country is aiming to overcome by constructing seven more nuclear power plants by 2030.
Early this year, a Vietnam Atomic Energy Commission senior official told Reuters that the country plans to generate around 15,000MW or atleast 10% of the total energy requirement through nuclear plants by 2030.
Currently, the country depends on hydro and coal plants, but these are not enough to meet the growing demand for power.
The country plans to seek investments from overseas and private players for new power facilities.
By 2020, the country’s total power generation is expected to touch 75,000MW, of which coal will contribute almost 50%, and the rest would come from hydropower (25.5%), gas (16.5%), renewable energy (5.6%), nuclear power (1.3%).
Image: Vietnam aims to generate 15,000MW of power through nuclear plants by 2030. Photo: courtesy of xedos4/ FreeDigitalPhotos.net.