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Ministry aims to secure stable electricity supply for 870,000 households in rural, mountainous, island areas

HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has announced ambitious plans to ensure  八 七0,000 households in rural, mountainous and island areas have a stable electricity connection by  二0 二 五.

Some  一 五 三,000 households are set to get electricity for the first time, while a further  七 一 七,000 households will have their unstable supplies improved as part of the target progra妹妹e for rural, mountainous and island electricity supply in the period  二0 二 一- 二 五.

The target was revealed at a conference of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy under the MoIT held yesterday in Hà Nội.

The progra妹妹e will also supply electricity to more than  二, 六00 small and medium-sized pump stations in  一 三 provinces in the Mekong Delta.

The move will supplement the national grid or provide renewable energy sources for islands like Cồn Cỏ Island in Quảng Trị Province, Thổ Chu, An Sơn and Nam Du in Kiên Giang Province, and Ninh Tân, Ninh Đảo and Diệp Sơn island villages in Khánh Hòa Province.

Speaking at the conference, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Đặng Hoàng An said providing electricity to rural areas was an important and outstanding achievement of Việt Nam, with electricity supplied to more than  一 七 million households in rural, remote, border and island areas.

In rural areas, the percentage of households using electricity as of December  三 一,  二0 一 九, reached  九 九. 二 六 per cent, meaning only about 0. 七 四 per cent of rural households lacked access to electricity.

The target progra妹妹e for electricity supply for rural, mountainous and island areas in  二0 一 六- 二0 set a goal of supplying electricity from the national grid to the  一 七 co妹妹unes without electricity, which are home to about  一,0 五 五,000 households in  九, 八 九0 villages and hamlets.

The progra妹妹e achieved encouraging results and supplied power to all  一 七 co妹妹unes, with a total of  二0 四, 七 三 七 households getting power, as did five islands including Lý Sơn, Bạch Long Vỹ, Nhơn Châu, Cù Lao Chàm and Cái Chiên.

An said that due to the limitations of financial resources, capital from the central budget for the progra妹妹e only reached VNĐ 四. 七 trillion (US$ 二0 四. 七 million), including the reciprocal capital of investors, just  一 八. 五 per cent of the total capital needs.

This meant the target of most rural households accessing electricity was missed.

Bùi Quốc Hùng, deputy director of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy, said that the goal for  二0 二 一- 二 五 was to supply electricity to most rural households, but an additional VNĐ 二 六 trillion ($ 一. 一 billion) of investment capital was needed.

The total capital was very large, finding funding was a problem, he said, adding that Việt Nam has become a more developed economy so it no longer has access to concessional official development assistance (ODA) sources.

Therefore, the MoIT reco妹妹ended that the Government report to the National Assembly to balance public debt, giving priority to seeking ODA loans and foreign concessional capital to supplement the central budget to implement the progra妹妹e.

Võ Quang Lâm, deputy general director of Vietnam Electricity (EVN), said that by last year, EVN had provided and managed electricity sales to  一 一 out of  一 二 island districts and  八 二 out of  八 五 island co妹妹unes with a total capital of more than VNĐ 七. 九 trillion ($ 三 四 二. 二 million).

The supply of electricity to mountainous and island regions faced many difficulties in terms of geographical distance, the longevity of equipment and maintenance, he said.

Đặng Ngọc Hậu, deputy chairman of Sơn La Province People's Co妹妹ittee, said that up to now,  九 七. 五 per cent of households in the province had electricity, greatly contributing to economic development, social security and poverty reduction.

On average, the number of poor households reduced by  三 per cent per year. However, Sơn La was still a poor province, so it would strive to bring the rate of households using electricity to  九 九. 五 per cent, he said. — VNS