The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) and the World Bank (WB) signed off on aloan for 500 million USD in Hanoi on November 12 to help the energysector improve the efficiency of the national grid transmission.

The money will be spent on the installation of more than 1,000km oftransmission lines and the establishment of a smart electricity networkin areas that are crucial for socio-economic development, includinggreater Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, as well as the Mekong Deltaand the central region.

Victoria Kwakwa, WB CountryDirector in Vietnam, said improving energy efficiency was key toreducing greenhouse gas emissions and mitigating the impact of climatechange.

The project will help contribute to 15percent of Vietnam’s transmission network growth until 2020,prioritising investment in major economic development areas wheretransmission overloads are commonplace or could become common in thenear future.

It also supports smart gridtechnologies to monitor, control and protect equipment in order toimprove the reliability of energy supply and reduce electricitytransmission losses, as well as building the capacity of the NationalPower Transmission Company.

The total requiredinvestment for the project was estimated at 731.25 million USD, with 500million USD borrowed from the International Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment, the World Bank’s lending institution for middle-incomecountries.

The remainder is financed by the National Power Transmission Company under the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) company.-VNA