Electric utility AES to sell stake in coal-fired plant in Vietnam

(Reuters) - U.S. electric utility AES Corp said it would sell its equity interest in the Mong Duong 2 coal-fired power plant in the Quang Ninh province in Vietnam to a consortium led by a U.S.-based investor.

The deal is in line with the company's strategy to invest in renewables and LNG infrastructure as it expects to achieve zero emissions from electricity by 2050.

The company said it was making progress on the development of the 450 trillion British thermal units Son My LNG terminal with PetroVietnam and the 2,250 megawatt Son My 2 combined cycle gas power plant as part of its gas and renewables push.

AES has a 51% stake, Posco Energy Co Ltd owns 30% and Stable Investment Corporation, a subsidiary of China Investment Corporation, owns the remaining 19% in Mong Duong 2.

Vietnam said in September it was planning to ramp up its solar and wind power generation capacity, aiming to raise the proportion of renewables in its power mix to 15%-20% by 2030 and to 25%-30% by 2045, from the current 10%.

Vietnam has been developing renewables, along with LNG-to-power and coal-based projects, as hydropower has been nearly fully tapped while oil and gas production has peaked. Plans to build nuclear power plants were scrapped in 2016.

(Reporting by Rithika Krishna; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)