Vietnam to continue import of electricity from China, Laos: official

HANOI, Oct. 10 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam will continue to import 2 percent of its electricity demand from China and Laos in the coming years, according to an official of Vietnam Electricity (EVN). Vietnam's total output of produced and imported electricity is forecast to reach 184 billion kWh in 2016, higher than that of 164 billion kWh in 2015, the Saigon Economic Times reported Monday, quoting EVN's Production Engineering head Nguyen Hai Ha as saying. Currently, the country is importing electricity that accounts for 3.1 percent of its demand from China and Laos, said Ha. Till the end of 2015, Vietnam's total installed capacity of power hit 38,642 megawatt (MW), some 41.6 percent of which was hydropower and 33 percent was coal-fired thermal power. Gas turbines contributed some 18.7 percent, some 3.1 percent was imported while the rest was from other sources. The country is running out of hydropower sources so it will focus on developing coal-fired thermal power. The proportion of thermal power will rise to 49 percent by 2020 and 55 percent by 2025, said the official. Vietnam targeted to increase the national power capacity to 60,000 MW by 2020, some 96,500 MW by 2025 and 129,500 MW by 2030.