Power and telecommunications grids are placed underground on Tran Hung Dao Street in HCM City’s District 5. — Photo baotintuc.vn

The five-year plan targets burying 650km of medium-voltage grids, 1,150km of low-voltage grids and 11km of 110kV power grids.

The rate of medium-voltage grids in the city underground accounts for 40 per cent. It has reached 98 per cent in districts 1 and 3, and about 60 per cent in districts of 4, 5, 6, 10, 11, Phu Nhuan, Binh Thanh, Tan Binh, Tan Phu and Go Vap.

EVNHCMC has finished the work on most main streets in the city center.

Electrical grids and telecommunications cables of transport projects have also been buried underground. 

The corporation has worked with local authorities to explain the benefits of the plan to achieve consensus among residents about the work.

Its plan on burying all power and telecommunications cables in the city underground by 2020 was approved in 2011, with an estimated cost of VND14 trillion (US$607 million).

The removal of tangled overhead electrical grids and telecommunications cables is expected to improve the appearance of the city. Underground power lines are safer, more stable, and easier to maintain. They are also less vulnerable to lightning strikes or collapse.  VNS

HCM City's overhead electrical cables to be buried underground by 2025

Thousands of kilometers of electrical and telecommunications cables have been buried underground in HCM City as part of a project that began nearly 10 years ago.