Vietnam forecasts 2008 power output up 15 percent

HANOI, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Vietnam, which is planning to overhaul its power sector to meet soaring demand, said total electrocity production next year will rise 15 percent from 2007 to about 77.2 billion kilowatt hour (kWh).

Vietnam Electricity (EVN), the country's top utility group, said in a report on Tuesday that it also plans to increase imports from China to meet Vietnam's burgeoning power needs.

EVN said Vietnam's power output was expected to reach 67.1 billion kWh this year.

The utility firm, which also controls all distribution and transmission grids, said it would raise imports from Chinese power firm, China Southern Power Grid Company, by 16 percent to 2.9 billion kWh next year from 2.5 billion kWh expected this year, to mitigate power shortages in Vietnam's northern provinces.

The unlisted EVN pays about 45 U.S. cents per kWh for the power imports from China, state media reported.

The group started buying electricity from China in 2004, using spare capacity from the border province of Yunnan.

Hydropower plants, which generate around 40 percent of Vietnam's electricity, often face temporary shutdowns during the dry season, causing nationwide outages.

Hanoi also has plans to remove restrictions on electricity prices by 2010, to attract more investors to build power plants needed to meet soaring industrial demand.

EVN Chairman Dao Van Hung said in October about 74 power plants with total capacity of 81,000 megawatt would be built between now and 2015.