Active Development AidData Chinese Aid

CDB and ICBC pledge $860 million loan for 650MW An Khanh-Bac Giang Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project

$860K USD

Funder	China Development Bank (CDB)\|Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
Recipient Organization	An Khanh Thermal Power Joint Stock Company
Country	Viet Nam
Start Date	Sep 06, 2017
End Date	Nov 04, 2026
Duration	3,346 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`64490`

Grant Description

CDB and ICBC contribution to $860 million loan for 650MW An Khanh-Bac Giang Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project On September 6, 2017, China Development Bank (CDB) and Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) signed an $860 million cooperation and framework agreement with An Khánh-Bắc Giang Thermal Power Joint Stock Company— a project company and subsidiary of An Khanh Group— for the 650MW An Khanh-Bac Giang Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project.

📋 Loan / Grant Terms

💰 Loan Amountand the financial breakdown between CDB and ICBC are unknown

The total cost of this Independent Power Project (IPP) is $1.027 billion and it is being financed with a mix of debt from Chinese banks and equity from An Khanh Group.

The purpose of the project is to construct a 650MW coal-fired power plant — with two, 325MW power generation units (Unit 1 and Unit 2) — in Bắc Lũng commune, Lục Nam district, and Bắc Giang province.

Satellite photograph from Planet does not show any signs of construction taking place between November 2019 and May 2020. In June 2019, the completion date for Unit 1 was delayed to 2023.

In February 2020, the power plant was reportedly having trouble securing financing from European banks (because it does not use supercritical or better technology) and Chinese banks would not disburse funds because the project company’s power purchase agreement (PPA) had not been approved by the Vietnam Ministry of Industry And Trade (MOIT) or Vietnam Electricity (EVN).

In February 2020, The power plant's sponsors asked that the Government of Vietnam approve a PPA in which the plant would operate at 90% of its capacity for ten years. ICBC and CDB have reportedly made approval of the PPA a condition for loan disbursement.

📋 Staff Comments

This project is also known as the 2 x 325 MW An Khanh-Bac Giang Coal-Fired Power Plant Construction Project. The Vietnamese project title is dự án Nhà máy Nhiệt điện An Khánh - Bắc Giang. The An Khánh - Bắc Giang power station was formerly known as Lục Nam power station.
On September 14, 2016, An Khánh-Bắc Giang Thermal Power Joint Stock Company signed a $753 million loan agreement with ICBC's Hanoi Branch and Hong Kong Branch for this same project (see 'KÝ THỎA THUẬN CUNG CẤP TÍN DỤNG CHO NHÀ MÁY NHIỆT ĐIỆN AN KHÁNH - BẮC GIANG'). However, AidData is unable to verify this agreement with any other sources. This issue merits further investigation. 2.An Khánh-Bắc Giang Thermal Power Joint Stock Company's Vietnamese name is Công ty cổ phần nhiệt điện An Khánh – Bắc Giang.3.The project is referred to as 越南安庆北江65万千瓦燃煤电厂项目 or 越南安庆北江项目 in Chinese. 4.An Khanh Group was created in February 2016.

📚 Sources & References

Ký Thoả thuận đồng tài trợ vốn tín dụng đầu tư Dự án nhà máy nhiệt điện An Khánh - Bắc Giang giữa.
Tổng hợp báo chí, internet phản ánh về Bắc Giang ngày
Nhiệt điện An Khánh - Bắc Giang: Góp phần ổn định an ninh năng lượng quốc gia
对外投资合作国别（地区）指南越南 2018版
Nhiệt điện An Khánh - Bắc Giang: Góp sức 'đánh thức' những tiềm năng
Funding, policy difficulties hassle independent power producers
An Khanh-Bac Giang Thermal Power Plant
An Khanh - Bac Giang thermal power plant proposes contract conditions to buy electricity to get loans
An Khanh - Bac Giang power station
Chủ tịch Bắc Giang xin phê duyệt dự án tỷ đô
Power firms seek foreign funding as loans become expensive, hard to get
An Khanh-Bac Giang thermal power plant licensed
KÝ THỎA THUẬN CUNG CẤP TÍN DỤNG CHO NHÀ MÁY NHIỆT ĐIỆN AN KHÁNH - BẮC GIANG
Nhiệt điện An Khánh - Bắc Giang: “Đòn bẩy” cho kinh tế địa phương
Nhiệt điện An Khánh - Bắc Giang: Góp phần ổn định an ninh năng lượng quốc gia Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.