Vietnam plans to increase electricity imports from Laos

In addition to existing power lines, the Ministry of Industry and Trade requested EVN to calculate and propose investment in new power transmission lines from Laos to Vietnam to increase domestic supply.

According to the 2024 electricity supply and operation plan of the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the electricity production and import output is nearly 306.26 billion kWh, of which the rainy season accounts for 52% and the rest is in the dry season.

Coal, hydro and gas turbine power will continue to play an important role in ensuring electricity supply for the national system next year. Meanwhile, renewable energy (wind and solar power) will be mobilized according to demand and the absorption capacity of the grid.

With this plan, the Ministry of Industry and Trade affirms that electricity for production and daily life next year is "basically guaranteed". However, the ministry assesses that 2024 will be a year with many unfavorable factors and difficulties for electricity supply, such as no major power sources operating, the amount of gas supplied for power generation from existing gas sources decreasing, and new gas sources being behind schedule. At the same time, the demand for coal for power generation is increasing, so imports must be increased. It is expected that factories will have to import more than 26 million tons of coal for electricity in 2024.

Therefore, to ensure sufficient electricity for production and consumption, at the meeting on December 9, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien requested EVN to propose investing in a new transmission line from Laos to Vietnam based on demand and the ability to import electricity from the neighboring country. In addition, EVN is required to submit to the Government in the first quarter of 2024 a price mechanism for electricity imported from Laos.

This is to increase the capacity and amount of electricity imported from Laos to Vietnam, supplementing the power source for the North, especially during the peak dry season, when there are no large power source projects operating until 2025.

Currently, electricity imported from Laos to Vietnam is transmitted via a 220 kV line. At the end of September, EVN invested more than VND1,100 billion in the 500 kV Monsoon - Thanh My line (section in Vietnam), 45 km long, to bring electricity from Laos to Vietnam. In September, this group proposed that the Ministry of Industry and Trade calculate and allow to accelerate the import of electricity from Laos.

According to the Power Plan VIII and the Cooperation Agreement between Vietnam and Laos in 2019, Vietnam will buy 3,000 MW of electricity from Laos by 2025 and about 5,000 MW by 2030 and can increase to 8,000 MW if conditions permit. Six power plants have been approved by the Prime Minister to import electricity from Laos, with a total capacity of 449 MW.

Importing more electricity from Laos is also due to its competitive price compared to some domestic sources. For example, the price of electricity purchased from Laos for hydropower plants is about 6.95 cents per kWh. This is 2-30% lower than domestic sources.

In 11 months, the total amount of imported electricity (Laos, China) was nearly 4 billion kWh, accounting for 1.5% of the total system output.

Mr. Minh

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