Vietnam is still in talks with Russian nuclear engineer Rosatom about building nuclear power plants in Vietnam, the two countries said in a joint statement reported by Reuters.

The parties signed a preliminary agreement in January, in which Rosatom said it wanted to build two VVER-1200s, its standard-issue export reactor (see further reading).

Last week, after Vietnamese president To Lam’s visit to Moscow for the 9 May Victory Day parade, the parties agreed to a roadmap for building up Vietnam’s nuclear capacity.

It involves building a nuclear science and technology centre, supplying fuel for a research reactor in Da Lat, and Vietnamese scientists participating in Russia’s International Research Centre.

Vietnam and Russia have had a close relationship since the country’s independence wars, but Hanoi said earlier this year that it would also hold nuclear cooperation talks with Japan, South Korea, France and the US.

Explosive growth

Vietnam is trying to gear its energy supply up to keep pace with explosive economic growth. The Ministry of Industry and Trade said it expects electricity demand to increase by up to 13% this year.

Its energy goals are complicated by a pledge to achieve net zero generation by 2050, despite the fact that 80% of its electricity now comes from fossil fuels. The pledge has led to an investment boom in renewables, beyond the traditional mainstay of hydro.

Russia had hoped to cash in here as well. Before its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, in 2021 Russian oil company Zarubezhneft and Belgium’s DEME Concessions signed an MOU to develop the 1GW Vinh Phong offshore wind farm off the coast of Binh Thuan province, but progress has since stalled.