Vietnam Powers Up Grid with $447 Million Project

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Written by Richard Finlayson, Senior International Editor for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Vietnam's National Power Transmission (NPT) is investing $447 million in a 500-kilovolt (kV) power grid project connecting Ho Chi Minh City and five provinces. NPT said that the 437-kilometer network will cross the provinces of Gia Lai, Dac Lak, Dak Nong, Binh Phuoc, Binh Duong and Ho Chi Minh City and increase the power backup capacity in the southern part of the country for the 2014-15 period.

Equipment supply for the project will be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), and the installation and ground clearance will be financed by the Vietnam Bank for Industry and Trade (Vietinbank) and Vietnam Development Bank (VDB). The project management board of Central Power Projects (AMT), also a subsidiary of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), will act on behalf of NPT to perform the project.

The project, codenamed Pleiku-My Phuoc - Cau Bong, will include maintenance for 8 kilometers of the existing 500-kV grid in Ho Chi Minh City and two power transmission stations in Pleiku and Cau Bong. Project construction will be completed by 2013 and supervised by the electricity construction consultancy companies nos. 2 and 4.

EVN previously announced in January that it would borrow $3 billion in official development assistance sources and foreign commercial banks in order to finance electricity projects in 2012. Lenders will include the World Bank, the German Reconstruction Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the French Development Agency and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

The funds will be used to complete the O Mon 3 and 4 gas-fired power projects, improve the national distribution grid, and assist the electricity sector in reforming policy.

EVN also has announced that they will target a reduction in production costs of $85.7 million in 2012. EVN's capital expenditure is estimated at $3.5 billion for 2012, representing an increase of 18.7% on 2011.

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