The undersea 110kV Ha Tien – Phu Quoc cable, which connects Phu Quoc Island to the mainland, took around three months to build.­ — Photo courtesy of EVN SPC.

KIEN GIANG (Biz Hub) — Phu Quoc Island has been connected with the national power grid after an undersea cable linked it with Ha Tien town on last Saturday.

According to the Southern Power Company under Electricity of Viet Nam(EVN SPC), the 55.8-km cable cost around VND2.34 trillion (nearly US$110 million) and took around three months to be installed.

Italy's Prysmian Powerlink SRL designed, supplied, and installed it under an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract.

EVN SPC, which also executed several other packages for the project, said it would reduce the electricity produced by diesel generators on Phu Quoc Island.

Domestic users and tourism businesses on Phu Quoc have for long been facing power shortages.

In areas supplied by the Kien Giang Electricity Co, households pay VND5,060 for a kWh of power while businesses pay VND7,992.

On the mainland it costs around VND1,509.

According to Le Minh Hoang, director of the Kien Giang Province Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, poor infrastructure, especially the power shortage, has been one of the major hurdles to development on Phu Quoc.

Investors in a number of tourism projects that stalled because the island's development was tardy have resumed work after hearing about the linkage with the national grid. — VNS