VIENTIANE (Laotian Times): Laos delivered a record volume of electricity to Vietnam in early 2026, as a wave of newly commissioned renewable projects and strong cross-border links drove an increase.
Laos exported 2.92 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity to Vietnam during the first three months of the year, accounting for 3.8 percent of total output. The figure marks an increase of nearly 120 percent compared to the same period in 2025, according to Vietnamese media.
Vietnam Electricity (EVN) credited the surge to rapid project deployment across Laos throughout 2025 and the completion of new transmission infrastructure along the shared border, including the 81-kilometer transmission lineTuong Duong-Do Luong that entered service in November 2025.
By end-2025, Vietnam had approved electricity imports from 47 Lao projects totalling 8,260 megawatts (MW) in combined capacity. Projects already delivering power reached 2,379 MW of operational capacity as several long-planned developments moved from construction into commercial operation.
The largest of these is the Monsoon Wind Power Project, a 600 MW onshore wind farm spanning Sekong and Attapeu provinces in southern Laos. It began commercial operations in late 2025, becoming both Southeast Asia’s largest wind farm and Asia’s first cross-border renewable energy project. The plant ships power to Vietnam through a 500 kV transmission line under a 25-year power purchase agreement with EVN.
The Truong Son Wind Farm, a 250 MW plant in Bolikhamxay province operated by the Vietnam-Laos Energy Investment Joint Stock Company, is now more than 80 percent complete and will supply electricity to Vietnam via the 220 kV Do Luong substation in Nghe An province once operational.
Meanwhile, the first phase of the Savan 1 wind plant in Savannakhet province, developed by a subsidiary of a Vietnamese private company, with now completed over 585 percent, contributing an expected 0.9 billion kWh per year at a grid integration rate above 90 percent.
Grid operators moved in parallel to expand transmission capacity.
EVN’s National Power Transmission Corporation brought the Tuong Duong-Do Luong line, stretching nearly 81 kilometers, into service in November 2025, strengthening the key corridor that carries hydropower from Laos into Nghe An province and onto Vietnam’s national grid.
Vietnam targets 5,000 MW of imports from Laos by 2030, rising to 11,000 MW by 2050. -- Laotian Times
