WB, Vietnam Sign US$500 Million Loan to Improve Energy Efficiency

The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the World Bank (WB) recently signed a US$500 million loan for a US$731.25 million operation in support of Vietnam’s energy sector. The investment will fund construction of over 1,000 kilometres of transmission lines and implement Smart Grid technologies to improve reliability and quality of electricity supply.

 

The loan supports a Transmission Efficiency Project, which is expected to improve the capacity, efficiency and reliability of electricity transmission in areas that are key to the country’s economic development, including the Greater Hanoi Area, the Greater Ho Chi Minh City Area, the Mekong Delta, and the Central Region.

 

It will finance transmission lines and substations, constituting about 15 percent of the expected need for transmission network expansion by 2020. The project targets key investment needs in major economic development areas where transmission overloads are already present or are expected in the very near term.