Construction of a 220-mw thermoelectric plant with total investment of some 206.7 million US dollars kicked off in Vietnam's northern Bac Giang province on Tuesday.

"Amidst our increasing electricity demand, the coal-fired plant is of importance to our economy. It will help not only offset the power shortage in the north, but also supply more electricity to the south, especially before 2010," Vietnamese Vice Industry Minister Nguyen Xuan Thuy said at the groundbreaking ceremony in Son Dong district.

Capitalized at nearly 3.3 trillion Vietnamese dong, the Son Dong plant is expected to start supplying 1.2 billion kwh annually to the national electricity grid in 2008, he said, noting that its first turbine is scheduled to become operational in the next 27 months and the second in 33 months.

The construction implemented by China's Shanghai Group for Foreign Economic and Technological Corporation is estimated to cost roughly 173.2 million US dollars, of which 85 percent will come from the Chinese firm, according to the project's investor, the state-owned Vietnam Coal Corporation.

To cope with potential power shortage in the next few years, Vietnam will expand some existing thermoelectric plants in northern Quang Ninh province and southern Can Tho city, accelerate construction of half-done power works, and import more electricity from China, according to the state-owned Vietnam Electricity, the country's biggest electricity producer and sole distributor.

By actively constructing more thermoelectric and hydroelectric plants, Vietnam hopes to increase its electricity capacity to 25, 000-26,000 mw in 2010 from the current 11,400 mw, meeting demand for its socio-economic development.

Now, 95.4 percent of communes and nearly 91.3 percent of households in the country have access to the national electricity grid, the power corporation said.

Source: Xinhua