Gulf Revives Vietnam Gas Projects Amid Southeast Asian Energy Demand Boom
Gulf Development, Thailand's largest private power producer, is reviving plans for major gas-fired projects in Vietnam. The company's founder and CEO, Sarath Ratanavadi, says Vietnam has 'strong potential' due to rapid economic growth driving rising electricity demand.
The project, which was put on hold earlier, aims to meet the increasing power needs of the country. Gulf Development already operates three renewable energy projects in Ninh Thuan province with a combined capacity of 247 MW.
Ratanavadi stated that Vietnam's push for at least 10% economic growth is intensifying pressure on its power grid, leading to power blackouts in 2023 due to drought-hit hydropower and surging demand. The company signed an agreement with the Vietnamese government in 2019 to study a 6,000-megawatt (MW) gas-fired plant and LNG terminal.
Gulf Development is also exploring further investment opportunities in renewable energy projects in Europe and considering more spending on data centres due to increasing electricity demand from artificial intelligence and cloud computing. The company aims to invest up to 140 billion baht ($4.2 billion) through 2030, mostly in renewable energy.