USTDA Helps Modernize Transit Systems and Power Grids in Vietnam

September 18, 2014

(USTDA) HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM – Today, U.S. Trade and Development Agency Director Leocadia I. Zak signed two grants with the Agency's partners in Vietnam to support efforts to modernize the country's infrastructure. These activities build upon USTDA's history of connecting its Vietnamese partners to U.S. industry experts who can help them upgrade transit systems and expand access to power.

USTDA provided a grant to the Management Authority for Urban Railways to establish an integrated telecommunications control center for the metro rail system under development in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC). Cisco Systems, Inc. (San Jose, CA) has been engaged to conduct a feasibility study and develop a plan for the acquisition and implementation of information and communications technologies for the control center for HCMC's metro rail system.

In line with the Transport Plan for HCMC 2020, this activity will help the government of HCMC to design, construct, implement and operate eight metro lines, along with tramways and monorail systems. These efforts will assist HCMC – Vietnam's largest city, with a fast-growing population of currently more than 7.3 million residents – in meeting the demands of its rapid urbanization.

USTDA also finalized an agreement with the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Vietnam for an automated demand response (ADR) feasibility study and pilot project. Honeywell (Morris Township, NJ), a leading supplier of smart grid technologies and services, will carry out the project in an effort to demonstrate how Vietnam's regional power corporations can provide more affordable, reliable means of electricity distribution.

The integration of ADR solutions into Vietnam's grid would enable utility providers to decrease peak demand by working with customers to either reduce or shift electricity consumption. If fully implemented across the five regional power corporations, wide-scale adoption of these technologies could save 300 megawatts in the national grid in Vietnam, where electricity generation capacity is expected to more than double by 2025.

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