EU provides USD108m to develop national grid

The EU will give Vietnam USD108m in non-refundable ODA for energy development and to provide sustainable energy to rural, island and mountainous areas.

The EU will give Vietnam USD108m in non-refundable ODA for energy development and to provide sustainable energy to rural, island and mountainous areas.

 

The EU-Vietnam Financial Agreement signed on December 1 at Brussels, Belgium

Minister of Industry and Trade Thuong Tran Tuan and Director-General of the European Commission's Directorate General for International Co-operation and Development Stefano Manservisi signed the EU-Vietnam Financial Agreement on December 1 at Brussels, Belgium.

The project will be carried out from 2018 to 2020. Vietnam will invest in renewable energy and expand the electrical grid for areas in the programme on electricity supply to rural, mountainous areas and islands during 2016-2020 period.

It includes 23 smaller projects that provide electricity to rural and mountainous areas from the national grid. There will also be two projects that use renewable energy facilities in Cao Bang Province and Bach Long Vi Island, and projects to build two submarine electrical cables to Tran Island in Quang Ninh Province and Nhon Chau Island in Binh Dinh Province.

It is estimated that 60,000 households will gain electricity thanks to the projects. The smaller projects will also benefit the socio-economic development in remote areas and help erase poverty.

The local electricity industry is set to undergo reform to improve capacity, attract more investors to renewable energy projects and reduce dependency on state subsidies.