Vietnam is speeding up construction of six 220-kV transmission lines and transformer stations for the purchase of electricity from China, the Vietnam News Agency reported Friday.

Capitalized at 890.9 billion Vietnamese dong (56 million U.S. dollars), the six projects, implemented by the state-owned Electricity of Vietnam, are to help transfer electricity from China's Yunnan province to northern Vietnamese provinces including Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho and Vinh Phuc.

The six projects are planned to be completed in 2006 and 2007. According to the state-owned corporation, they are among Vietnam's urgent power projects in the 2006-2010 period.

In recent years, EVN has purchased electricity from Yunnan and China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region via 110-kV transmission lines to serve some northern localities.

Source: Xinhua