HANOI - Unit 1 of Vietnam's Duyen Hai 3 Thermal Power Plant, which is built by Chinese contractor, has just experienced the first fire furnace, a preparation to run trial before the unit is put into operation.

Local Nhan Dan (People) newspaper on Monday quoted the plant's investor Vietnam Electricity as saying that the first fire furnace is of great importance, creating a premise for the unit to start generating electricity by the end of 2016.

The plant is located in Vietnam's southern Tra Vinh province, with total capacity of 1,245 megawatt.

In August 2011, the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) contract for Units 1 and 2 was awarded to a consortium of Chinese companies including Chengda Engineering, Dongfang Electric Corporation, the Southwest Electric Power Design Institute (SWEPDI), a subsidiary of the China Energy Engineering Group and Zhejiang Electric Power Construction.

Construction began in December 2012 and the unit 1 of the plant is expected to be granted Provisional Acceptance Certificate (PAC) in December 2016.