Power pricing threatens Vietnam’s gas plans

The country’s drive to adopt LNG and gas could be imperilled as the state electricity company haemorrhages money

Vietnam is making headway in developing a fleet of LNG-fired power stations that will be fed by the country’s first regasification terminal, which launched last year. But ensuring they will be able to operate commercially will first require Hanoi to overcome its reluctance to raise electricity tariffs. In mid-December, a joint venture comprising local developer Truong Thanh Viet Nam Group, the international arm of Japanese utility Kyushu Electric Power, and Tokyo Gas—Japan’s biggest city gas provider—received an investment licence from the Vietnamese government to develop a $1.99b LNG-to-power project in the northern province of Thai Bin. The project will have a capacity of 1.5GW, according