The Vietnam National Power Transmission Corporation (NPT) will invest 16.9 trillion Vietnamese dong (810.5 million U.S. dollars) in the power transmission system in 2013, reported the online Voice of Vietnam (VOV) on Tuesday.

According to the report, the NPT plans to put into operation 54 transmission lines of 110kV-500kV and launch another 50 similar projects to improve the capacity of the northern power grid.

The NPT has asked the Vietnamese government to create favorable conditions to secure new loans from domestic and foreign financial organizations so that its power transmission projects will get off the ground soon.

According to the electricity supply and operation plans for 2013 approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the country's total electricity output and import volume in 2013 will reach 133. 4 billion KWh, an increase of 11 percent over 2012, of which nearly 3.7 billion KWh of electricity will be imported from China.

In the structure of Vietnam's electricity industry, hydropower output accounts for 40 percent of the national total, gas turbine thermal power accounts for 33 percent, coal-fired power 22 percent and the rest are oil thermal power and imported electricity.