Vietnam invests 5.93 bln dollars to boost power grid capacity in 2016

Vietnam invested more than 134.85 trillion Vietnamese dong (5.93 billion U.S. dollars) into boosting the national power grid capacity in 2016, according to the state-run power group Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) on Thursday.

It was 1.8 percent higher than the figure the group had planned for 2016, Vietnam News Agency quoted EVN as saying.

Last year, EVN put into operation five turbines at northern Lai Chau and Huoi Quang hydro-power plants as well as southern Duyen Hai thermal power plant with combined capacity reaching 2,305 mega watt.

Also, the group completed 297 projects on upgrading and expanding the national grid, including transformer stations and transmission lines which are key to power security in the south, electricity transmission capacity between the north and the south, and electricity supply for capital Hanoi and key northern economic zones.

According to EVN Director Dang Hoang An, in 2016, the group mobilized some 2.96 billion U.S. dollars worth of official development assistance and preferential loans from international financial institutions, such as the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank among others. Endit