Vietnam will bring online two LNG-fired power plants before the end of the year, the Vietnam Investment Review reported on July 11.

The Nhon Trach 3 LNG-fired power plant located 10 km southeast of Ho Chi Minh City is slated to begin commercial operations in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Nhon Trach 4 is expected to start commercial operations by the end of the year.

Together, the two facilities comprise the southeast Asian country’s flagship LNG-fired power plant complex with a total production capacity of 1,624-MW, providing roughly 8bn kWh of electricity annually to the grid. The price tag for the complex is about $1.4bn, with international banks Citi and ING leading the financing for the project.

Nhon Trach 3 has been making steady progress since beginning to supply electricity to the grid in early February.

The power plant now finds itself in the midst of the trial phase before commercial operations. In April, the facility operated at base load capacity for 30 hours providing the grid with 812 MWh of electricity.

Meanwhile, Nhon Trach 4 began supplying power to the grid in late June providing an initial output of 50 MW as it began the first grid synchronisation step as part of the trial phase. Commercial operations is expected to begin in November.

While Nhon Trach 3 and 4 represent the first two power plants to use LNG in Vietnam, the southeast asian country began testing out using LNG as fuel for power plants in 2024. The Phu My 3, Phu My 2.1 and Phu My 4 facilities located in the southern Ba Ria-Vung Tau province all used LNG to fire their plants during short periods throughout the year.

Vietnam is also planning a second LNG-fired power plant, The $2bn Thai Binh LNG Power plant is expected to begin construction before the end of the year, with commercial operations forecast to commence in 2030.