Vietnam will need to spend around US$1 billion each year to develop power transmission facilities and is dependent on foreign financing sources, according to the state-owned National Power Transmission Corp. Vietnam will aim to develop between 300 and 350 transmission projects from 2011 to 2015.
Vu Tran Nguyen, deputy general director of the corporation, said his company is charging the lowest transmission price in the world, at only VND77.5 per kilowatt-hour. As a result, it does not have enough capital for reinvestment.
Vietnam is facing a potential power crisis, but new power plant projects cannot usefully be implemented until transmission grids have been completed, and these transmission projects cannot be delayed or the country will suffer serious power shortages.
To arrange enough financing for new projects, the company has to find loans from various sources, including the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, Nguyen said.
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