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