EVN has recently written to the Ministry of Industry and Trade on completing a dossier for importing electricity from hydropower plants in Laos, including Nam Mo and Houay Kaouan.

The import of electricity will be in line with the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by the governments of Vietnam and Laos on October 5, 2016, with a total capacity of at least 3,000MW by 2025, which may increase to 5,000MW by 2030.

In August this year, the prime minister approved a policy to import power from Laos, with a combined capacity of 2,689MW. EVN has signed 19 agreements wto import power from 26 power plants in Laos, with a capacity of 2,240MW.

According to EVN, negotiating to purchase power from Laos is of significance, as there is no new source of electricity that has been put into service from now until 2025. Power supplies for the north may face challenges in near future, especially in dry seasons. It is projected that there will be a shortage of an estimated 3,632MW in capacity and around 6.8 billion kWh in output in May, June and July of 2025.

Thus, the import of electricity from Laos will contribute to ensuring power security for the north of Vietnam from 2024 to 2025 and the following years, said EVN, adding that imported electricity has competitive prices versus domestic electricity.

EVN, therefore, proposed the ministry submit a plan to the prime minister to import a total of 225.5MW from projects in Laos, including Nam Chiane, power plants in Nam Mo and Hoauy Kaouan.

Source: Saigon Times