Vietnam electric company plans 1-billion-Dollar bond issue

Vietnam’s state-owned electricity monopoly was hoping to float 1 billion dollars in government-guaranteed bonds on international markets by early next year, a company executive said Tuesday. Dang Hoang An, deputy director of Electricity of Vietnam

Vietnam’s state-owned electricity monopoly was hoping to float 1 billion dollars in government-guaranteed bonds on international markets by early next year, a company executive said Tuesday.

Dang Hoang An, deputy director of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), said the company had submitted a proposal to issue the bonds by early 2011, and was awaiting government approval.

The bond issue would bring in capital to upgrade Vietnam’s power generation capacity, which is falling behind fast-growing demand.

“We need this capital for thermal power-plant projects,” An said.

The newspaper Tuoi Tre reported that EVN was also seeking to issue 5 trillion dong (257 million dollars) of bonds on the domestic market.

High demand for power and low water levels at hydroelectric dams forced EVN to introduce rolling blackouts across Vietnam this summer. The government expects the total electricity shortfall in 2010 to come to 1 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh).

The 2,500-megawatt Son La dam is expected to come online in December, and numerous new coal-fired power plants are under construction, but the government estimates demand for electricity may rise by 18% next year if the economy meets its target of 6.7 to 7.5% growth. – Earthtimes

Tags: EVN, EVN bonds