Governor Le Minh Hung of the State Bank of Vietnam and ADB Country Director for Vietnam Eric Sidgwick signed the US$231 million loan package, which is the third phase of the ten-year Power Transmission Investment Programme approved by ADB in 2011.
Sidgwick said that ADB’s investment programme aimed to support the country address power supply shortage by expanding transmission system capacity to cope with the increasing power demand driven by strong economic growth.
The scheme also brought the latest in advanced technologies to upgrade Vietnam’s transmission system to international standards and reduces transmission losses contributing to climate change mitigation, he added.
Under the newly-signed agreement, phase 3 will develop an additional 60km of 500kV transmission lines and 64km of 220kV lines, as well as adding 3700 MVA to existing transmission systems in the southern region, supplementing the additional transmission capacity provided in the northern and central regions under phases 1 and 2, respectively.
The expanded capacity is expected to enable electricity transmission from the power plant cluster of the southwestern region to the national grid and improve the reliability and stability of power supply to major economic centres in southern Vietnam.
The last phase, phase 4, is scheduled to be approved in 2017, focusing on developing a 500kV transmission line and accompanying substations, also in the southern region.
With the new programme, ADB has assisted Vietnam in developing its transmission systems with a total of around 1,200km of 500kV lines and 670km of 220kV lines, in addition to 10,000 MVA of 220/500kV substations. The financial institution has also provided project management and related capacity building support to the National Power Transmission Corporation.
Upon completion by 2020, ADB’s Power Transmission Investment Programme is expected to help Vietnam improve the efficiency of transmission systems throughout the country, promote effective utilisation of existing and planned power plants and increase power availability nationwide for economic growth.
