Two units of a new gas-fired power plant in Vietnam will feature the first use of General Electric’s (GE’s) H-Class turbine in the country.GE on May 16 announced that PetroVietnam Power Corp.’s (PV Power’s) Nhon Trach 3 & 4 Power Plant, with 1.6 GW of generation capacity, will use two GE 9HA.02 gas turbines. It also will be the first power station in Vietnam fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG).

The new units are expected to provide electricity for three large industrial areas in the southern region of the country including Ho Chi Minh City, Dong Nai, and Ba Ria–Vung Tau provinces.

LNG projects are being developed in Vietnam as the country tries to wean itself off coal-fired power generation, which supplies about half the country’s electricity. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in November of last year said Vietnam wants to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

The country’s ruling Communist Party has said it does not want to build nuclear power plants, and in 2016 scrapped plans for reactors backed by both Japan and Russia. Renewable energy has been slow to develop in Vietnam, and government officials have said they see the use of LNG as the best route to move away from coal in the next several years. They also have said growing gas-fired generation will support a coal-to-gas transition, and support the use of renewable energy as that sector is developed by enhancing the reliability and stability of the power grid.