PetroVietnam Gas has announced a tender to purchase Vietnam’s first shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG), marking an important step on the Southeast Asian country’s path to becoming a major importer. The cargo of 50,000 to 70,000 tonnes is being sought on a delivered ex-ship (DES) basis for delivery between June 1 and July 31, 2023.
Vietnam, a manufacturing powerhouse that generates the majority of its electricity from coal, is developing a new power strategy that seeks to increase installed LNG-fired power generation capacity to up to 24.5 gigatonnes by 2030. This first LNG purchase is to test run a new LNG terminal in the southern province of Ba Ria Vung Tau, which has been constructed by PetroVietnam Gas.
The Thi Vai LNG Terminal will primarily serve two gas-fired power reactors with a combined capacity of 1.5 gigawatts being developed in the neighboring province of Dong Nai by PetroVietnam Power Corp at a cost of USD 1.4 billion. The Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 power plants will begin operations in the fourth quarter of next year and the second quarter of 2025, respectively. According to PetroVietnam Gas, the terminal will supply between 680,000 and 850,000 tonnes of LNG per year from 2023 to 2027.
According to the most recent draft of Vietnam’s master power development plan, the total installed capacity of LNG-fired power plants should range between 15.4 gigawatts and 24.5 gigawatts by 2030, or from more than 12% to more than 16% of total generation capacity. The proposal, which is still subject to change, indicates that Vietnam would cease developing new LNG-fired power plants after 2035 and convert some existing plants to use hydrogen.
(Sources: Reuters; Channel NewsAsia)
