MoIT Minister Nguyen Hong Dien field inspects and works on the Expanded Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant Project

On July 28 in Hoa Binh, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien and the delegation of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) had a meeting with Vietnam Electricity (EVN) on the overall evaluation of the Expanded Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant (HPP) Project and preparation work for construction resume.

Overview of the meeting between the MoIT Minister and Vietnam Electricity - Photo: Ng.Tuan.

The Expanded Hoa Binh HPP Project was invested in and built with the following objectives: Increasing the peak coverage capacity for the national power system, improving the operating mode of the power system, thereby directly contributing to reducing power production costs, providing an addition about 495 million kWh/year for the national power system; reducing the operation intensity of the existing units, thereby prolonging the equipment life, saving maintenance and repair costs; utilizing maximum exploitation of the annually excess water discharged in the flood season of the existing Hoa Binh Power Plant to generate electricity.

According to hydrological monitoring data of the existing Hoa Binh HPP in the period 1999-2018, the total amount of excess water discharged (not through power generation) is 175 billion cubic meters, accounting for 19% of the water volume to the reservoir. Particularly from the beginning of the 2022 flood season until now, Hoa Binh HPP has had to discharge water through the spillway to fight floods 3 times with a total of 7.18 billion cubic meters, equivalent to 1.6 billion kWh.

Large-capacity hydropower units such as Expanded Hoa Binh HPP have the advantage in frequency regulation of the power system, flexibility in balance adjusting of generating capacity with load capacity, especially peak load response and hot backup for the Northern power system at peak hours, as well as in the context that renewable energy plants tend to account for an increasingly high proportion of the power system.

EVN President and CEO Tran Dinh Nhan spoke at the meeting - Photo: Ng.Tuan.

Speaking at the meeting, EVN President and CEO - Tran Dinh Nhan said that if the Expanded Hoa Binh HPP Project does not resume construction soon, there will be a risk of unsafety of the under-construction work items and incurred investment costs leading to affect the investment efficiency of the project. According to EVN President and CEO, the contents of the project overall evaluation report have been consultant verified and the members of the Dossier Appraisal Advisory Council of the Expanded Hoa Binh HPP overall evaluation report unanimously approved. The continued implementation of the Expanded Hoa Binh HPP project not only unaffected the safety of existing works but also has a very important meaning in ensuring the progress and efficiency of the project. Therefore, EVN respectfully suggests the MoIT consider and enable the investor to resume construction of the entire project in accordance with the direction of the Prime Minister in Document No. 302/TB-VPCP dated 5 November 2021 and Document No. 200/TB-VPCP dated 9n July 2022.