Vietnam: EVN aims to connect all rural areas to national power grid

Hanoi, January 1 (VNA) – The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) Group is continuing its efforts to upgrade and develop the national power grid in rural areas in order to connect all communities by 2020. Under the plan, 99.5 percent of rural households across the nation will enjoy electricity and 95 percent of communes will meet the power criteria in the national strategic programme on new-style rural areas. EVN plans to mobilise different resources to complete the target, including international aid, central and local budgets, local traders and residents, according to Nguyen Quoc Dung, sales manager from EVN. The group also called on the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Finance, and local authorities to facilitate the access to preferential loans for its subordinates to invest in upgrade to rural power grid. Local residents have been encouraged to participate in the development and maintenance of the power grid. Deputy Director General of EVN Nguyen Tan Loc said that the People’s Committees in provinces and cities need to accelerate site clearance work while allocating funds for power projects. He also said the master plan for supplying electricity to remote areas should be included in other rural development programmes. The group also urged localities to speed up the transfer processes of existing rural power networks to EVN. So far, 98.4 percent of rural households across the nation have been connected to the national power grid. According to Nguyen Quoc Dung, 15,800 transformers and more than 40,000 kilometres of cable have been installed throughout the nation over the past five years, worth a combined 13.4 trillion VND (598.2 million USD). By the end of 2015, 6,016 communes met the programme’s criteria on rural power access, accounting for 66.6 percent of the total and nearly double that of 2011, Dung said./.