A new power transmission line designed to send electricity from Wenshan in southwest China to Ha Giang in Vietnam has been completed and put into service, reported the Yunnan Power Grid.

It is the fifth power line to transfer electricity from China to Vietnam.

The newly completed line is also the second 220-kilovolt power line to be constructed between China and Vietnam. The first one runs between Honghe in Yunnan and Lao Cai of Vietnam.

Yunnan Power Grid signed an agreement over the sale of electricity between Wenshan and Ha Giang with its Vietnam counterpart last June.

Construction inside China began last July, with an investment of 173 million yuan (21.63 million US dollars). The line extends 300 km, of which 170 km are inside China.

According to the Yunnan Power Grid, the line is capable of sending one billion kwh of electricity a year, but power transmission in the first year of operation will be around 700 million kwh.

Estimates provided by Vietnam show that the northern parts of the country will suffer a power shortage ranging from 200 million kwh to 1.2 billion kwh between 2007 and 2010.

China has sold 1.84 billion kwh of electricity since September 2004, when China began to transmit power to Vietnam.