Major cities including Ha Noi and HCM City, the Mekong Delta and central region will be improve electricity transmission thanks to a World Bank loan. — Photo techloy.com

WASHINGTON, D.C.  (Biz Hub) — The World Bank approved on Thursday a loan of US$500 million for Viet Nam to improve the capacity, efficiency, and reliability of electricity transmission in places that are key to the country's economic development like the greater Ha Noi Area, the greater HCM City Area, the Mekong Delta and the central region.

It will fund laying of over 1,000 kilometres of transmission lines and substations of 220 and 500 kilovolts to increase the transmission capacity and reliability of the grid, adoption of smart grid technologies to improve the reliability and quality of power supply, preventing outages.

It will enable 15 percent growth in Viet Nam's transmission network between 2015 and 2020, targeting key investment needs in major economic development areas where transmission overloads already occur or will in the very short term.

The project will also help build the capacity of the National Power Transmission Company by supporting its operational and financial independence in line with power sector reforms, which foresee a wholesale competitive market to be piloted by 2015.

The total cost of the project is estimated at $731 million, of which the remaining $231 million will be provided by the Government. —VNS