Rapidly industrialising Vietnam, with a population of 100 million people, relies mostly on coal and hydropower to power its fast-growing economy.

Despite its dependence on fossil fuels, the communist nation has committed to reaching net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, supported by a Just Energy Transition Partnership – under which wealthier nations help developing countries switch to clean energy faster.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh told the national assembly in Hanoi that his government had asked authorities to restart nuclear power projects.

He said this was to “ensure enough power for fast and sustainable socio-economic development in the long run”.

“If we aim at building an economic growth scenario with double digits, power needs will increase by 1.5 times,” he added.

In late 2016, Vietnam scrapped plans for two multibillion-dollar nuclear power plants, citing environmental and financial reasons.

They were slated to be the first in Southeast Asia but were halted after cost estimates doubled to US$18 billion.

The two plants in central Ninh Thuan province with a combined capacity of 4,000 megawatts were to be developed with assistance from Russian state company Rosatom and the Japanese consortium JINED.

“The project was suspended not due to technological reasons, but the country’s current economic situation,” the government said at the time.