Driving from Ho Chi Minh City, we took the Cat Lai Ferry to Nhon Trach District, Dong Nai Province. We drove on a small winding road through hamlets in Phuoc Khanh Commune where we saw houses scattered amidst rows of tall, green Nipa palm trees on both sides of the road. Before 1975, this land was the Sac forest army base of Vietnam’s special water forces, who were renowned for their sneak attacks into Sai Gon and made the troops of the US and the south’s puppet government scared like cats on hot bricks. We soon arrived at an immense area of red soil and water where Nhon Trach 2 Thermal Power Plant stands. 

Located in Hamlet 3, Phuoc Khach Commune, Nhon Trach District, Dong Nai Province, the plant, which costs over 700 million USD, was built with modern technology. It uses natural gas and is registered under the Clean Development Mechanism Act (CDM) of the United Nations. The plant’s design consists of two gas turbine units with a total capacity of more than 750MW that are able to produce 4.5 billion kWh/year.
The project started construction in June 2009 and is expected to be completed in October 2011. It is a major work for national electricity development approved by the Prime Minister to solve the current shortage of electricity. Therefore, Nhon Trach 2 Petro Electricity Joint-Stock Company, the project’s main investor, is determined to implement drastic measures to speed up the process of construction and ensure quality and effectiveness. It reached its targets of staking the construction site in 45 days and nights, completing the foundation to install the turbines in 40 days and nights, etc. All efforts to generate commercial electricity using turbine No.1 were finished in180 days and nights. The project is directly implemented by a joint venture of the general contractors of LILAMA (Vietnam Machinery Erection Corporation) and PVC (PetroVietnam Construction Joint Stock Corporation), and not by international contractors like other projects.
For this reason, after 18 months of construction, the project completed nearly 90% of its work. On December 26, 2010, turbine No. 1 officially generated electricity to the national electricity grid. Not long after, on January 25, 2011 turbine No.2 also officially generated electricity to the national grid to the joy of the thousands of workers of the plant.
To prepare the plant for operation on time, the management board signed a long-term contract for buying gas from PetroVietnam Gas (PVGAS).They also signed a contract to sell electricity to the Electricity of Vietnam and a long-term maintenance contract with Siemens, an equipment supplier of Germany. The plant has a staff of experienced experts with 138 engineers and workers who are well-trained and highly professional.
Receiving us at the construction site, 33 year-old engineer Nguyen Van Hung, Director of Nhon Trach 2 Thermal Power Plant Project, said: “Although most engineers participating in this project are young, they have participated in many large-scale projects. These include Dung Quat Oil Refinery, Uong Bi Power Plant, Phu My Power Plant, Ca Mau Power Plant and Nhon Trach 1 Power Plant.”
At a meeting with Dinh La Thang, a member of the Party Central Committee and President of PetroVietnam, and Vu Duc Thuan, General Director of the joint-venture general contractors of LILAMA and PVC, pledged to complete the whole project on schedule.
When looking at the modern facilities of Nhon Trach 2 Power Plant, few people could imagine that only ten years ago the area was known for having the poorest households in any locality. It had the lowest intellectual standards and traffic was horrendous. Today, the plant helps bring a new light source, improves the lives of the local people and changes the whole area.