The U.S. Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) has provided the money to monopoly power distributor Vietnam Electricity (EVN) to assess site selection and design for a $1 billion LNG terminal and gas-fired plant.

EVN chairman Duong Quang Thanh said the grant would "help develop new power generation sources using LNG while solving the issues of power shortage and imbalance between supply and demand in southern Vietnam."

Vietnam’s rapid growth in recent years has sent demand for energy skyrocketing. Its hydropower potential is almost fully exploited, oil and gas reserves are running low, and in the last few years it has gone from being a net exporter to net importer of coal.

The government envisages total power generation to reach around 129,500 MW by 2030. Of this 19,000 MW will come from gas-fired plants, including LNG.

Foreign investors have expressed interest in LNG projects in the country. Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited said in March it was interested in building a $7.8-billion LNG-fired power complex in Ca Na in Ninh Thuan.

The government is keen on LNG projects. In January Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc spoke about the need to set up a $4-billion LNG plant in the southern province of Bac Lieu.

The province had asked for a 3,200 MW LNG plant, which would cost $4.3 billion.

Vietnam envisages building six LNG terminals at a cost of more than $6 billion, according to the country's gas industry development plan by 2025, with vision to 2035.

The World Bank has estimated Vietnam’s electricity demand to grow by around 8 percent a year over the next decade, and said it would need to invest $150 billion by 2030 to develop its energy sector.