The company, formally known as Vietnam National Coal - Minerals Industries Corp, will produce 39.7 million tonnes of the fossil fuel this year, Vietnam News Agency reported, citing its CEO Dang Thanh Hai.
The Southeast Asian country, a regional manufacturing hub, has conducted rolling blackouts at industrial parks and residential areas in recent weeks, which exposed its structural and bureaucratic problems.
Coal-fired power plants remain the largest source of power for Vietnam. In the past two weeks alone, they accounted for more than half of its electricity output.
Vietnam’s coal imports in the first five months of this year rose 39.9% from a year earlier to 17 million tonnes, according to government customs data.
Vietnam aims to stop building new coal-fired power plants after 2030, and stop using coal for power generation after 2050, and the surge in coal use is expected to be a temporary setback in its ambitions to cut carbon emissions. (Reporting by Khanh Vu; Editing by Kanupriya)
