Vietnam has secured a loan of $120 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) in order to develop the transmission system in the country’s north.

With a total cost of the development is estimated at $273.6 million with EVN providing $103.6 million and receive $50 million from the Agence Francaise de Developpement.

The deal is also expected to support reform of the energy sector by ensuring that Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) generation plants are converted into corporations and a single-buyer power market is set up in 2009.

Meanwhile, a second 110 kV high-voltage power line between Vietnam and China is expected to begin construction soon. The line will start in Wenshan in Yunnan province and terminate in Ha Giang, Vietnam.

This first stage of a big power transmission plan worked out between the two is expected to come on line within the next few months. In the second stage, the two countries plan to build a 220 kV line to supply Vietnam’s northern provinces and in phase three, China Southern Power Grid Corp and Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) will jointly build a 500 kV line.