Following a request by the Ministry of Industry and Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), the Australian coal miner Ensham Resources (Brisbane, Queensland) has agreed to increase the capacity of a planned power station in the Mekong Delta from 1000MW to 3600MW and the investment in the project from USD 1 billion to USD 4 billion. The plant will be sited on 349 hectares on Hon Chong Island and the contract will be either on a build-operate-transfer or build-operate-own basis. Ensham’s coal agent in Vietnam, Kien Dung Co., said that the project would be carried out in three phases. Construction on the first phase of the project is scheduled to begin in later 2008 and operations should start in 2012. Ensham will invite other international energy companies to work as partners in the project. Ensham will invest a further USD 400 million to build a deepwater port in Lien Luong district to serve the coal importation from Australia. The coal feed for the plant is estimated at 10 million tons per annum.