The Government Inspectorate has just issued Notice No. 3439/TB-TTCP Announcing the Inspection Conclusion of projects with difficulties and obstacles under the management of the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
In which, the An Khanh - Bac Giang Thermal Power Plant Project is a group A project, a level I industrial project invested by An Khanh - Bac Giang Thermal Power Joint Stock Company (An Khanh Company); the project location is in Dam village, Cam Ly commune, Bac Ninh province (formerly Vu Xa commune, Luc Nam district, Bac Giang province). The project was approved with a total investment of 23,601,729,416 million VND.
Through the inspection process, the Government Inspectorate determined:
Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee and the Ministry of Industry and Trade have advised and submitted to the Prime Minister to assign An Khanh Company to be the investor to implement the Project in the form of an IPP independent power plant when the Company is newly put into operation, does not have experience and capacity to implement the Thermal Power Plant Project, and does not have sufficient financial capacity to implement the Project.
This is one of the reasons leading to difficulties in project implementation, including difficulties in arranging and allocating capital from investors.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade advises and submits to the Prime Minister for approval to increase the capacity scale of the Project from 100MW to 650MW while not receiving opinions from relevant agencies on increasing the capacity and scale of the Project, which is not necessary and not enough basis to determine the financial capacity of the Investor to implement the Project.
The capacity records of some individuals participating in the preparation, appraisal, and evaluation of the Feasibility Study Report are not in accordance with the provisions of Clause 4, Article 148 of the 2014 Construction Law; 2 experts participating in the preparation of the EIA Report do not have consulting certificates as prescribed.
The planning location of the Ash and slag disposal site (area 47.94 ha) of the Project violates the dike protection corridor; the planning location of the warehouse and port area (area 14.68 ha) of the Project is located within the dike protection corridor, and construction is not allowed.
Investors do not have sufficient equity, do not meet the conditions and ratios to be able to borrow government-guaranteed capital according to regulations.
The An Khanh - Bac Giang Thermal Power Plant project is not subject to land allocation for socio-economic development, the Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee's establishment of Vu Xa Industrial Cluster to recover land for the An Khanh Project is a violation of the provisions of Article 62 of the 2013 Land Law.
The project implementation is too slow compared to the completion progress (in 2023) approved in Decision No. 06/QD-UBND dated January 3, 2017 of Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee and the progress is extended (until December 2025) according to Decision No. 648/QD-UBND dated June 21, 2023 of Bac Giang Provincial People's Committee.
Responsibility for the above-mentioned shortcomings, defects, and violations belongs to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, a number of units under the Ministry: General Department of Energy (now Electricity Department), Department of Local Industry (now Department of Innovation, Green Transformation and Industrial Promotion); Provincial People's Committee, Department of Planning and Investment, Department of Natural Resources and Environment, Department of Agriculture and Rural Development, Department of Industry and Trade, Department of Construction of Bac Giang province, People's Committee of Luc Nam district, Bac Giang Provincial Tax Department (now Bac Ninh Provincial Tax Department); Project investors and organizations and individuals according to each relevant period" - the Inspection Conclusion Notice stated.
The Government Inspectorate proposed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade, according to its functions, tasks, and authority, organize and direct the implementation of self-criticism and handling of responsibilities according to regulations for collectives, individuals, organizations, and units in each period related to shortcomings, defects, and violations; direct focusing on handling and thoroughly overcoming the shortcomings, defects, and violations mentioned in the Inspection Conclusion.
In the process of implementation, if signs of criminal law violations are detected, they shall be transferred to functional agencies for consideration and handling according to regulations.
