HCMC – The Ministry of Industry and Trade has urged the Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) to consider constructing new transmission lines to import more electricity from Laos.
This plan is aimed at augmenting power imports from the neighboring country to supply the northern region, particularly during the dry season as no new electricity projects are slated for commissioning until 2025.
Currently, electricity is imported from Laos to Vietnam through a 220-kV transmission line. Earlier, EVN invested over VND1,100 billion in the construction of the 500 kV Monsoon – Thanh My transmission project for the purpose of importing electricity from Laos.
Under the national power development plan and a collaborative agreement inked between Vietnam and Laos in 2019, Vietnam is committed to purchasing 3,000MW of electricity from Laos by 2025 and ramping it up to 5,000MW by 2030.
To date, the prime minister has approved investment policy to purchase electricity from Laos. The Government prioritizes buying electricity from Laos due to its favorable pricing compared to other regional sources.
In the 11-month period, Vietnam imported nearly four billion kWh from both Laos and China, constituting 1.5% of the entire system’s total power consumption.
