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Son La hydro-power plant completed three years ahead of schedule
PM Nguyen Tan Dung spoke at the inauguration ceremony.
The plant, built in It Ong commune, Muong La district, has six groups of turbine with a total capacity of 2,400MW. It aims to generate more than 10 billion kWh for the national grid annually, divert floodwaters in the rainy season, supply water for domestic use in the dry season, and help boost socio-economic development in the north-western region.
The first generator was connected to the national power grid in December 2010, five years after construction work began. In September 2012, the sixth generator officially came online, and the project was completed in November 2012.
At the inauguration ceremony, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung highlighted the significance of the project, which was designed and constructed by Vietnamese engineers and workers. He noted it was completed three years ahead of the approved timeline.
He thanked the local administrations and people for their efforts and whole-hearted support, allowing the project to be implemented on time.
More than 20,000 ethnic minority households in Dien Bien, Son La and Lai Chau provinces had to move to new resettlement areas where local administrations attempted to create conditions for the displaced to stabilise their lives.
The PM also praised investors and design consultants for applying the leading edge of global technology during the plant’s construction.
He asked Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) – the main investor - and contractors to use the lessons from the project’s construction, installation and operation when building the Lai Chau hydro-electric power plant in the nearby province.
He also asked the administrations of Son La, Dien Bien and Lai Chau provinces to allocate production land, devise suitable economic development programmes and generate jobs for displaced people in the resettlement areas.
The plant in pictures
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VNN/VOV
Photo: Kien Trung
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