EVN Asked to Speed up Construction of Power Works

EVN Asked to Speed up Construction of Power Works

The Vietnam government has asked the State-owned monopoly electricity supplier Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to speed up the progress of under-construction power plant projects and solve difficulties for them to be operational in 2006 to address serious power shortage facing the country in the coming time.

Accordingly, the corporation will have to put into operation 13 large power projects in 2006. Among them, the expansion of the 300-MW Uong Bi thermoelectricity plant and the construction of Se San 3 and Se San 3A hydropower plants are scheduled to complete in the first quarter of 2006; the 54-MW Srok Phu Mieng hydropower plant in August 2006, and the first turbine of the 342-MW Tuyen Quang hydropower in December 2006.

EVN will also need to speed up construction progress of the Ca Mau power project.

EVN was also urged to speed up construction progress of the Ha Tinh-Thuong Tin 500-KV transmission line and other lines and transformers to operate the Thuong Tin 500-KV station in late August or early September.

The corporation needs to allow construction on the 220-KV lines to transmit electricity from China to Vietnam’s border provinces.

Besides, it should continue boosting the implementation of electricity demand management measures and set out strict methods to solve the current power shortage.

In fact, the current serious power shortage is due to sluggish construction progress of power projects.

On the other hand, EVN will also have to ask northern thermal power plants to operate at their full capacity and purchase more electricity from independent power plants (IPP), BOT plants and China to ensure sufficient power supply to production and daily life.

According to Industry Minister Bui Xuan Khu, Vietnam’s energy sources will run out by 2015, so the country should complete the national energy policy and prepare for the utilization of atomic energy to produce electricity from now.

To mobilize capital for developing power sources, EVN plans to sell a series of hydropower plants such as Thac Ba, Tri An, Thac Mo, Yaly, Ham Thuan-Da M, Se San and Ninh Binh thermoelectricity plant. Even the Hoa Binh plant, the largest hydro power plant in the country, may also be equitized in the future.

To date, the corporation has equitized only two power plants - the Vinh Son-Song Hinh Hydropower Plant in the central province of Binh Dinh and the Khanh Hoa Electricity Plant in the central coastal province of Khanh Hoa.

EVN is currently building or will kick off construction shortly on 31 power plants as listed in the following table and planning more than 100 others for the near future.

* List of On-going power plant projects: