LNG power cluster to go on stream in new year

The Nhon Trach 3 and 4 LNG-fired plants, built by state-owned PV Power in the southern province of Dong Nai, were inaugurated on Sunday.

Nhon Trach 3 and 4 LNG-fired plants in Dong Nai Province. Photo courtesy PetroVietnam

The two plants, which will use imported LNG, have an annual capacity of nine billion kilowatt-hours of electricity.

Nguyen Duy Giang, deputy general director of PV Power, a subsidiary of PetroVietnam, said testing has been completed and the plants have been licensed to send power to the grid.

Vietnam Electricity has agreed to buy at least 65% of their output for 10 years. They are expected to generate revenues of around VND25 trillion (US$950 million) a year. Their technology also allows the use of hydrogen, even exclusively, if needed.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said the LNG power cluster plays an important role in national energy security.

He called for development of clean energy sources to power the country’s proposed investments in data centers, digital transformation and semiconductor plants.

Under Vietnam’s revised power development plan approved in April, LNG-to-power capacity is targeted to reach 22.5 gigawatts by 2030, from less than 1 GW today, accounting for roughly 10% of the country’s power mix.