Viet Nam has sought capital to upgrade its power transmission grid because the system risked being overloaded as demand for power consumption continues to increase.

According to Luu Viet Tien, from the National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT), the sector needed around US$10 billion to develop the power transmission grid by 2020. However, to date, $6 billion still needs funding.

Meanwhile, the demand for power consumption was expected to increase at a rate of more than 14 per cent per year during the period of 2011-15.

Chairman of the Board of NPT Dang Phan Truong pointed out that at the moment, the capacity of a 220-500kv transmission line system had failed to keep pace with the development of power source projects and consumption demand.

Increasing the capacity of the power transmission line system was urgent to meet the rising demand, Truong said.

"In the condition of capital shortage, a modernised electricity network is an important measure," he added.

Truong said that the NPT started to turn the electricity network into a smart grid by applying modern technologies in operation and control to increase capacity.

According to Tien, the price of power transmission should occupy from 10 to 12 per cent of the electricity price. "The current price of power transmission, 6 per cent of the electricity price, is not enough for future investments."

At a recent workshop held by the NPT and the World Bank, the NPT called for more supports from the World Bank as well as from the Government and relevant ministries to get access to official development assistance (ODA) or commercial loans.

It was estimated that $760 million was needed per year to invest in new power transmission projects. During the period of 2013-16, the NPT planned to implement 36 new transmission projects nation-wide with the total investment of $700 million.

The national power transmission system started to be built in 1960s. By June 2011, more than 4,300km of 500 kV power line and more than 10,000km of 220 kV line were under the management and operation of the NPT.

VNS