New hydro plant is set to plug in national grids

December 04, 2012 | 09:15

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A $410.7 million hydropower plant in central Thanh Hoa province has just broken ground.

Ngo Viet Hai, chairman of Trung Son Hydropower Company - a subsidiary of state run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), said the project would provide an additional 1,019 gigawatt hour of electricity annually to help match the nation’s rising energy demands.

Especially, it would contribute to Vietnam’s climate change agenda by lowering carbon dioxide emissions by about one million tonnes per year, Hai said.

“The plant’s reservoir is expected to provide flood control benefits through a water-storage capacity of 112 million cubic metres,” he said.

The plant will benefit from a $330 million World Bank loan, accounting for 80 per cent of the project’s total cost, with a 22 year maturity and a grace period of six years.

Hai said the project was a typical example of a well-designed, medium-scale hydropower project that would meet international standards.

Up to 1,516 local households in eight communes will be directly affected by the project. Around 98 per cent of them are ethnic peoples of Thai, H’Mong, Muong and Kho Mu.

The first turbine of the plant will be running by 2016’s fourth quarter and all construction will be completed by 2017, according to the project developer’s schedule.

By Thanh Thuy

vir.com.vn

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