PetroVietnam Technical Services Corporation (PTSC), a subsidiary of the state-run Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), and Samsung C&T Corporation have jointly signed a deal with the project investor PetroVietnam Gas Joint Stock Corporation (PVGAS) on building and operating the terminal. They will design and construct the terminal, procure equipment and launch trial runs.

The facility will produce one million tons of LNG per year when its first phase is completed in 2022 at an estimated cost of $286 million. The capacity is expected to triple in the second phase by 2023.

The LNG terminal, Vietnam’s first gasification facility, will supply LNG for domestic consumers, including Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 power plants and industrial buyers. It would partly compensate for the domestic gas shortages after 2022, experts said.

The LNG terminal will be able to handle LNG tankers of up to 85,000 DWT.

The Thi Vai - Nhon Trach LNG - fired power complex includes the Thi Vai LNG terminal and Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 power plant projects with a combined capacity of 1,500 MW, both developed by PetroVietnam Power Corporation (PV Power) - another subsidiary of the PVN.

The Nhon Trach 3 and 4 power plants are scheduled to become operational in 2022 and 2023 respectively, thus helping to ease power shortages in the southeastern region.

Ho Cong Ky, chairman of PV Power, said at a mid-June press briefing that PV Power was speeding up their implementation of Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 LNG - fired power projects.

The total investment capital for Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 LNG - fired power projects is estimated at some $1.4 billion.

Another regasification project, also proposed by PVGAS – the Son My LNG terminal in the central province of Binh Thuan – is under negotiation.

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

The country's revised national Power Development Plan VII envisages total power generation to reach around 129,500 MW by 2030. Of this 19,000 MW will come from gas-fired power plants, including LNG.

Foreign investors have expressed interest in LNG projects in the country. Thailand’s Gulf Energy Development Public Company Limited at a meeting in early March with Ninh Thuan authorities said it was interested in building a $7.8-billion LNG-fired power complex in Ca Na, a coastal commune in the central province of Ninh Thuan.

Under its proposal, the complex will have four LNG-fired power plants with a combined capacity of 6,000 MW to be built in build-operate-transfer (BOT) or other modes. An LNG regasification terminal will be a key component of the complex.

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 is struggling to develop its energy sector since many coal-fired power projects have been behind the schedule, its hydropower potential is almost fully exploited and oil and gas reserves are running low. In that context LNG-fired power plants will play a critical role in the country's energy mix in the future, experts said.

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