Vietnam desperately needs to modernise its electric grid to accommodate demand expected the growing populations of the country’s major cities.
This week the State Bank of Vietnam signed a $500 million loan with the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development, a World Bank lending agency, for new transmission lines and smart grid technologies.
With an additional $231 million from the National Power Transmission Company, Electricity of Vietnam, the project will include more than 621 miles of new transmission lines and substations, the Transmission Efficiency Project will enhance the efficiency, reliability and capacity.
The project is focused on the country’s primary economic development areas where transmission lines are already overloaded or will be soon, according to a World Bank statement. Those are Greater Hanoi, Greater Ho Chi Minh City, the Mekong Delta and the Central Region.
The smart grid monitoring, control and protection technologies to be incorporated with also help improve grid reliability, cut the number of power outages and help increase capacity for the national transmission company.
