An overview of Hòa Bình Hydro Power Plant. The plant is expected to be expanded from the fourth quarter of 2020. — Photo baochinhphu.vn

HÀ NỘI — The Hòa Bình hydropower plant expansion project is expected to start in the fourth quarter of 2020 and is expected to be completed in 2023. Currently, related units are rushing to complete the necessary procedures to implement the project.

The project is invested by Việt Nam Electricity (EVN) with investment capital of VNĐ9.22 trillion (US$397.24 million), including 30 per cent of reciprocal capital and 70 per cent from commercial loans.

It aims to raise the national power network’s peak power and maximise utilisation of water discharged from the plant in the flood season for generating power. In addition, it will help improve frequency modulation capability and stablise the frequency of the national electricity system and reduce the working intensity of available turbines of the plant, thus prolonging the life of equipment and saving maintenance and repair costs.

The plant expansion project will include two turbines with total capacity of 480MW and electricity output of about 488.3 million kWh per year.

This is a key power project which attracted great interest from the Government and the State Capital Management Committee (SCMC). In order to start the project in the fourth quarter of 2020, the leader of SCMC at the enterprise agreed to assign EVN to implement the project and take responsibility with the Commission.

SCMC said that it would quickly complete and approve the procedures within its competence so that the project could start construction according to the set plan.

According to EVN, the project was assigned and managed by the Hydropower Project Management Board No. 1, which has experience in operating major hydro projects such as Sơn La and Lai Châu.

Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 1 is also one of the leading consultancy firms in the hydropower sector. Therefore, EVN is fully confident that it will control the progress and quality of the project after it is approved by competent authorities to start construction, said Nguyễn Tài Anh, EVN’s deputy general director. — VNS