The Northern Power Corporation (NPC) under the Electricity of Vietnam has launched a project to supply power to more than 30,000 ethnic households in northern mountainous Son La province. The $26.6 million-project will be implemented in three years and include the installation of more than 540 kilometers of 35-kV and 22-kV transmission lines and 875 kilometers of 0,4 kV line, as well as the building of 218 transformer stations and installation of electricity meters for each household. Eighty-five percent of the project’s capital will be allocated from the State budget, and the remainder is sourced from the NPC, according to NPC director Nguyen Phuc Vinh. The project will connect the national power grid to an additional 557 remote villages in the province. Currently, about 54,000 households in the province still live without power supplies, accounting for 24 percent of the total population. The figure is expected to fall by 5 percent when the project is completed by 2015. (vov.vn May 28)
