Vietnam plans power purchases from China through 2015

Vietnam plans to continue purchasing electricity from China in the next five years as the country tries to ensure its energy security, the government said.

Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai asked national power utility, Electricity of Vietnam, also known as EVN, to negotiate long term contracts with Chinese partners to purchase electricity through 2015, according to a statement posted on the government website Friday. Further details were not mentioned.

EVN was also ordered to look for other power sellers in other regional countries and speed up construction of new power plants in the country. 

Vietnam is part of the ASEAN Power Grid, a plan initiated 10 years ago to connect power networks of Southeast Asian countries towards ensuring continued power supply in the region. However, the country has so far connected its grid only with Laos and Cambodia.

The government said Vietnam is developing facilities to link its grid with Thailand and Myanmar and then other Southeast Asian nations.

According to EVN, power supply will be stable in September unless there are technical problems.

Vietnam’s power consumption surged 3.2 percent in August from July even though output fell 3.5 percent to around 8.1 billion kilowatt-hours.