Vietnam to buy more electricity from neighbours including Laos: report

Vietnam is expected to buy more electricity from neighbouring Laos, Cambodia and China to meet its growing energy needs, local media reported last week.
From now until 2030, Vietnam may buy 14GW (14,000MW) of electricity from Laos, 3.8GW from China and 4GW from Cambodia, according to the Saigon Times.
Vietnam is buying 572MW from Laos and over 450MW from China. These imports account for nearly 2 percent of total output, the news agency reported, citing a report from the National Assembly Economic Committee.
A source at Laos’ Ministry of Energy and Mines’ Planning and Cooperation Department said the governments of both countries have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Vietnam planning to increase power imports from Laos to just 5,000 MW.
Under the MOU, Vietnam will step up energy imports from Laos to 3,000MW during the period 2021-2025 and to 5,000MW from 2026-2030.
The source said her department had not yet been informed by Vietnam if the country would increase imports to 14GW.
Vietnam will increase imports from now until 2030, the Saigon Times quoted the Institute of Energy under Vietnam’s Ministry of Industry and Trade as saying.
Electricity is mainly imported by the North-Central, the Central and the Central Highlands areas, with these regions projected to see power shortages after 2025, prompting the Vietnamese government to add power supplies from the South and from other countries.
Water shortages that have impacted power generation have been attributed to creating this situation.
From now until 2030, Vietnam will have its electricity grid connected to power plants in Laos. A few years ago, the governments of the two countries signed electricity purchase contracts with hydropower plants in northern Laos, according to the Saigon Times.
Earlier, Vietnam built a 500kV transmission line via a station in the North-Central area, bordering Huameuang and Xamneua districts in Huaphan province, in order to import electricity from hydropower plants in Laos.
Vietnam is one of five countries that Laos sells electricity to. The other four are Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar and Malaysia.
The amount of exported electricity over the five years from 2016-2020 was estimated to reach 129,605 million kWh worth US$7,203 million, an increase of 164 percent compared to the previous period, according to Laos’ Ministry of Energy and Mines’ Planning and Cooperation Department.

By Souksakhone Vaenkeo
(Latest Update October 7, 2020)