Tokyo Electric Power Co. said it will purchase carbon dioxide emission rights from the Vietracimex Lao Cai Electric Joint Stock Co. TEPCO will buy emissions credit for about 290,000 tons of carbon dioxide through a hydropower plant project between 2011 and 2013, Jiji Press English News Service reported.

As the worldwide push for cleaner power and reduced emissions grows, more and more companies are looking for ways to reduce or offset their carbon dioxide emissions.

The deal is the first of its kind for Tokyo Electric Power, though the company has been providing technical support to help the Vietnamese company build a hydropower plant in the northwestern province of Lao Cai.

The plant is scheduled to start operations in 2011 with an output of 60,000 kilowatts.