The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is extending a US$151 million loan to help Vietnam expand and improve electricity services in poor and remote communities, based on mini hydro development. The project, scheduled for completion by 2015, will develop between five and ten mini hydro schemes, which will mainly benefit the northern and central parts of the country.rnADB's project will expand the Vietnamese government's on-going rural electrification programme, which is intended to provide help throughout the country, particularly in provinces with large ethnic or minority communities.rnEdvard Baardsen, Senior Infrastructure Specialist for ADB'srnSoutheast Asia Department, expressed the hope that access to reliable and affordable electricity in these areas will increase income generation and education.Vietnam's electricity coverage has increased considerably over the past 12 years, from approximately 51 per cent to about 91 per cent, thanks to a boom in the economy and foreign investment. It has been estimated that power investments of more than US$ 3 billion will still be required over the next ten years to electrify the country completely. It has been particularly difficult to find investors for more remote areas, where the cost of installing electricity would be higher (because of the topography of the country) and returns would be less attractive. To circumvent the problem, the project will use revenue generated from the plants' electricity sales to subsidize expansion of the medium and low voltage grid to the proposed locations. This strategy will also help overcome funding obstacles that have left many existing small hydro plants out of use.
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