Besides, using coal material for its operation will cause environmental pollution, hampering the development of tourism in the province.

 

In addition, the residents heavily protested handing over agricultural fields to the investor, and hoped that they will be provided with jobs once the plant comes into operation. However the project is yet to be implemented, leaving locals hanging.

 

Licensed in January 2008, ITACO planned to develop the Kien Luong power and port complex under the build-own-operate (BOO) form on an area of 555.9 hectares. The project included an industrial park, an urban area, a deep seaport, and a power plant with a total generation capacity of up to 4,400 megawatts.

 

According to plans, the construction of ITACO’s Kien Luong complex was expected to start in 2009, and be completed in 2018. However, ITACO could not keep the plan on track for its commercial operation deadline of 2018 due to the group’s troubles in mobilising funds for the project.

 

In 2013, to address the investor’s problem and get the project back up and running again, the Vietnamese government allowed ITACO to modify its investment model from BOO to build-operate-transfer (BOT), so that it could receive government guarantees to realise the project.

 

In 2014, ITACO sought partners to establish a consortium to implement the project. Leading French energy company EDF, and Korean Samsung and Hyundai groups have expressed interest in the project. Previously, the Kien Luong 1 thermal power project was also considered by UK investor Graham Bell & Associates Limited. However, Tan Tao declined to disclose the official partner.

 

It was until December 2015 that the spell of silence was finally broken, when Tan Tao and the Ministry of Industry and Trade signed a memorandum of understanding on developing the BOT project, paving the way for the beleaguered project’s resurgence, following six years of financing trouble.

 

Under the latest MoU, Kien Luong 1 is scheduled to start generating power by February 2025. The plant will have two generators with the combined capacity of 1,200 MW, representing a total investment capital of more than $2.4 billion.

 

However, as of now, the project has yet to take a single step forward.