Vietnam buys power from China

Vietnam buys power from China

HANOI: Three northern Vietnamese provinces have started
importing power from China's Yunnan province to meet increasing
needs for electricity after a long drought created shortages, an
official said on Wednesday.

The Ha Giang, Yen Bai and Tuyen Quang provinces will import up
to 200 kilowatt hours (kwh) of power at a cost of 4.3 U.S. cent
per kwh from now to the end of 2006, an Electricity of Vietnam
(EVN) official told AFP.

A new 110 kilovolt transmission line for the deal was
inaugurated on Tuesday in Ha Giang mountainous province, the
official who declined to be named said.

Power produced by EVN for these three provinces is now shared
by others to meet the country's rising needs for electricity
supply.

Vietnam witnessed last month an acute power shortage that has
kept large swathes of northern Vietnam in the dark and affected
the capital Hanoi. -- AFP