Construction of a gas thermal power plant as part of the O Mon Thermal Power Complex started in the Mekong Delta province of Can Tho on February 26.

The O Mon Plant 1, which will have two turbine groups to produce 3.6 billion kWh annually, will be built at a cost of US$555 million, with 85 percent sourced from the Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC) in preferential loans. The first turbine group is scheduled to begin operating in late 2008 and the second in 2010.

The O Mon Thermal Power Complex, with a total capacity of 2,800 MW, will be built at a cost of US$2 billion. It will be the largest in the Mekong River Delta and the second largest in Vietnam.

Addressing the ground-breaking ceremony, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dzung asked the Electricity of Vietnam corporation to work with its partners on the possibility of bringing gas offshore from Lot B on Phu Quoc island to the complex in order to reduce costs. He also asked Can Tho city to co-operate with other provinces to build gas pipelines to the complex.