A Japan-funded power plant in southern Vietnam, has drastically underperformed—operating at only 3 to 5 percent of its generation targets—after delays in gas supply forced it to burn costly heavy oil, a Board of Audit of Japan (BAJ) report has found, The Asahi Shimbun has reported → view source.
The BAJ found that the O Mon Thermal Power Plant feasibility assumptions were not properly verified, and gas field development remains incomplete 16 years after the first unit’s completion.
The Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) provided ¥83.8 billion (about US$558 million) in Official Development Assistance for the O Mon Thermal Power Plant and transmission network in Can Tho, southern Vietnam.
JICA defended the project, saying it helped stimulate gas field development and supported the business expansion of Japanese companies such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Sojitz Corp., though the audit concluded it “fell far short of what was needed.”
The project was intended to use natural gas from nearby fields, but delays in gas field development forced the plant to rely on heavy oil, which was more expensive and unsustainable.
It also found that Because of fuel costs, the plant operated only during peak demand periods and failed to meet generation targets. By 2024, output was just 3.1 percent of the target for Unit 1 and 4.4 percent for Unit 2, the article says.
Learn more about Vietnam’s gas industry →
LPG production
Of note, Vietnam’s liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) production in September 2025 totalled 64,000 tons, a modest increase of 0.57 percent from August.
For the first nine months of 2025, output reached 603,000 tons, marking a 14.09 percent increase compared with September 2024 and up 8.19 percent year-to-date.
LPG imports
Its imports of LPG, in August, also rose 10.36 percent to US$191.34 million, up from US$173.38 million in July.
Year-to-September imports reached US$1.35 billion, reflecting steady demand alongside a shift in supplier composition.
Natural gas production
Vietnam’s natural gas production rose to 501 million cubic metres in September 2025, up 18.25 percent from 424 million cubic metres in August.
In the first nine months of 2025, output reached 4.41 billion cubic metres, 8.34 percent lower than the same period in 2024.
Recent developments
Recent developments in Vietnam’s gas sector include:
Vietnam signs EPC contract for long-delayed O Mon IV gas power plant
Vietnam signed an engineering, procurement, and construction contract for the O Mon IV power plant in Can Tho with a consortium led by South Korea’s Doosan Enerbility and Vietnam’s PECC2, back in June.
The 1,155 MW project will use combined-cycle gas turbine technology and is scheduled to begin operations in December 2028 after nearly two decades of delay.
PM pushes for US$6 billion gas deal with US to stabilise trade
Vietnam’s Prime Minister ordered urgent negotiations to finalise a US$6 billion methanol gas import agreement with the United States, framing it as a cornerstone of efforts to balance trade and defuse tariff tensions, back in April.
This was inline with increasing imports of gas from the United States being floated a number of times as a means to reduce Vietnam’s trade surplus with the US.
Learn more about the role of LNG imports in Vietnam—US trade negotiations→