File photo of wires hanging off an electrical pole in a Hanoi street

Vietnam’s electricity generation capacity is expected to rise 20 percent this year, easing the country’s chronic power shortage, the industry and trade minister said on Wednesday.

Despite the delays in the start-up of several power plant projects, the country would manage to add 3,000 megawatts (MW) of new power generation capacity this year, taking the total to 18,000 MW, Vu Huy Hoang told the National Assembly.

“It is possible that power supply will not be as difficult as in 2008, given the new capacity,” Hoang said in a live TV broadcast from parliament.

Hanoi has forecast demand for electricity in Vietnam would grow 14 percent next year on the back of an economic recovery.

The Southeast Asian country is also considering a multi-billion-dollar investment in its first nuclear power plant to address the growth in energy demand.

Source: Reuters