(VOV) – Son La Hydropower Plant welcomed its first Tet after being connected to the National Power Grid last December. The plant’s operation is an important milestone in the development of the Vietnamese power sector as it’s the largest plant of its kind in Southeast Asia and a testament to the Vietnamese people’s competence in executing such a large project. VOV reports:

Son La Hydro Power Plant (Photo: SGGP)

Located in It Ong commune, Muong La district, Son La province, Son La Hydropower Plant has six turbines with a total capacity of 2,400 MW. After 7 years under construction, the 138-meter dam will provide the national grid with over 10 billion kWh of electricity each year. With a total reserve capacity of up to 9 billion cubic meters and 4 billion cubic meters for preventing flooding, the plant will also supply water to the Northern Delta, boosting socio-economic development in the northwest region. Duong Khanh Toan, President of Song Da Corporation which has primary responsibility for the construction work, said ‘The facility was completed three years ahead of the schedule set by the National Assembly, saving millions of USD and boosting the country’s industrialization and modernization. The move has proven the Party and Government’s renewal policy, the intellectual and internal strength of the Vietnamese people, and the pride of the constructers of hydropower projects in the Ho Chi Minh era.’

The success of the Son La Hydropower Plant project is thanks to engineers and workers mastering the state-of-the-art technologies. Thai Phung Ne, Deputy Director of the national steering committee for the Son La Hydropower project, said that all steps from technical design, and project management to execution, supervision, and production of building components were carried out by Vietnamese enterprises. He said ‘This is the first time Vietnam has been a key consultant on such a large project in terms of design, construction, and equipment assembly. In the past, in order to complete such a big project, about 35,000 staff were required to work on site. But this time fewer than 10,000 engineers and workers were needed to finish it.’

The project’s success is also attributed to guidance from government, authorities at all levels and strong support from local residents. More than 20,000 households in Son La, Lai Chau, and Dien Bien province relocated voluntarily to free up land for the plant. Truong Quang Nghia, Secretary of the Party Committee of Son La province, said ‘The Party committees and people of three provinces are proud that the project was completed as scheduled and more than 20,000 households have initially been stabilized in resettlement areas. Public infrastructure and welfare works in resettlement areas have received due investment, meeting basic needs and boosting the local socio-economic development.’

Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung (2nd, R) congratulates engineers, construction workers at Son La Hydropower Plant (Photo: SGGP)

The plant’s designed annual electricity output is more than 10 billion KWh 10% of the country’s total output. The operation of the plant is essential to ensuring an adequate power supply nationally, improving people’s living conditions, and helping Son La province contribute about 48 million USD to the state budget. Along with the construction of Son La Hydropower plant, many roads have been expanded and upgraded while relocation and resettlement has been combined with preserving the cultural identities of local ethnic groups and helping displaced people more from subsistence farming to commodities production. Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung said ‘The project has been done mostly with domestic resources and entirely designed and constructed by Vietnamese engineers, with professional foreign supervision. The ministries, state economic groups and corporations should draw experience from this project to apply to other major national works.’

Thanh Chung – Thanh Thuy