Ca Na LNG-fueled power project in central Vietnam draws only one bid

A consortium comprising multi-sector corporation Trungnam Group and Sideros River has been the sole bidder to date for the 1,500 MW Ca Na LNG-to-power project in Vietnam’s south-central province of Khanh Hoa, according to local authorities.

The consortium, headquartered in Ho Chi Minh City’s Dien Hong ward, submitted its bid with an electricity selling price of around VND3,294 per kWh ($0.13), based on an exchange rate of VND25,670 per U.S. dollar.

As for the bid security, private lender VPBank’s transaction office No. 2 issued a guarantee worth nearly VND574 billion ($21.96 million), valid for 180 days from the bid closing date.

The provincial Department of Industry and Trade said it has officially commenced the bidding process for the VND57 trillion ($2.18 billion) project.

The investor selection process is scheduled to take place throughout 2025, followed by investment preparation throughout 2026. A final investment decision is expected in Q4/2026.

In April 2025, the former Ninh Thuan provincial People’s Committee issued a decision granting in-principle approval for the project and launching the investor selection process via bidding.

Ninh Thuan and Khanh Hoa were recently merged to form the new Khanh Hoa province, which borders Dak Lak, Lam Dong, and the East Sea.

The LNG-to-power plant is designed to use combined-cycle gas turbine technology with a capacity of 1,500 MW, supported by LNG storage and regasification infrastructure, featuring one 220,000-cubic-metre storage tank.

The project also includes the construction of an LNG import terminal, a 2,400-meter-long eastern breakwater, and supporting infrastructure for terminal operations.

It covers about 28.06 hectares of land and 111.7 hectares of water surface in Ca Na commune, Khanh Hoa province.

In 2021, the project’s Phase 1, with a capacity of 1,500 MW, was added to Vietnam's Adjusted National Power Development Plan VII, with operations targeted for 2025-2026.

Subsequent phases will be reviewed in detail under the Adjusted National Power Development Plan VIII for the 2021-2030 period, with a vision to 2045.

In 2021, five investors were initially shortlisted for the project, including the consortium of South Korea’s Hanwha Energy, Korea Gas Corporation, and Korea South-East Power Co., Ltd.; Thailand’s Gulf MP Company Limited; Jera Company Inc of Japan; the consortium of Total Gaz Electricite Holding France, Sinapore’s Novatek Gas & Power Asia Pte, PV Power - a power generation unit under state-owned oil an gas major Petrovietnam, Germany’s Siemens Energy AG, and Russia’s Zarubezhneft; and Trungnam Group.

Vietnam will guarantee an offtake of at least 65% of annual electricity output from projects using imported LNG power for up to 10 years, under a newly-issued government decree.

The country currently has only one operational LNG-fired power project - the Nhon Trach 3 and Nhon Trach 4 in the southern province of Dong Nai.

The Nhon Trach 4 power plant, one of two units in Vietnam’s first LNG-fueled power complex, officially connected to the national grid on June 28 with an initial capacity of 50 MW.

This marks the first time Nhon Trach 4, invested by PV Power, has delivered electricity to the grid, a key milestone ahead of full commercial operation.

Nhon Trach 3, the sister plant, connected to the grid in February and is currently undergoing trial operations.

Trungnam Group is one of the most outstanding private conglomerates in Vietnam. The group is operating mainly in the fields of energy, infrastructure, construction, real estate, and Information technology-electronics Industry.

Energy is the strongest pillar in its investment activities. The group has possessed the largest number of renewable energy projects in Vietnam, with the largest total capacity in the country.

Trung Nam is the only Vietnamese private enterprise involved in power transmission, with a 500kV substation and transmission lines of 500kV and 220kV connected to the national power grid (500kV Thuan Nam-Ninh Thuan substation).