A corner of Vĩnh Sơn Village, Quảng Đông Commune. The area is part of the planned site for the Quảng Trạch 1 Thermal Power Plant in Quảng Bình Province. — Photo vov.vn

QUẢNG BÌNH — The encroachment on the construction of Quảng Trạch 1 Thermal Power Plant in Quảng Bình Province has affected the project's progress.

Quảng Trạch 1 Thermal Power Plant, a component project of the Quảng Trạch Power Centre, started construction in 2011. Covering 199ha in Quảng Đông Commune, Quảng Trạch District, the plant was expected to have a total capacity of 1,200MW and provide 8.4 billion kWh per year.

At present, contractors are building infrastructure for the plant. However, a number of households in Vĩnh Sơn Village have encroached on the land allocated for the project. They illegally built houses, slaughterhouse and fences to delineate cultivation land. Some families have received compensation but not yet handed over land, the Voice of Việt Nam reported.

"Local authorities are calling on people to quickly hand over land to the project. We will take tougher measures to deal with this problem," said Nguyễn Đức Hiền, chairman of Quảng Đông Commune People's Committee.

In 2017, Electricity of Việt Nam (EVN) replaced the Việt Nam Oil and Gas Group (PetroVietnam) as the developer of Quảng Trạch 1 Thermoelectric Plant due to the slow implementation by the former developer, according to a decision issued by Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc.

EVN has completed compensation and support for 427 out of 434 households affected by the project.

Vice chairman of provincial People's Committee Nguyễn Xuân Quang said the local government needed to publicise all information related to the plant's operation as well as compensation policies and support for resettlement in order to receive support from local residents.

“People in Vĩnh Sơn Village and Quang Đông Commune support the project to be implemented as scheduled. This is an important project, ensuring energy security,” Quang said.

The resettlement aims to minimise the negative impact as the plant comes into operation. The investor has committed to apply advanced technology to minimise emissions.

People have repeatedly hindered the construction due to the investor's delay in compensation for site clearance and concerns that the plant will cause pollution when it comes into operation. — VNS