In the late 80s of the twentieth century, Tri An hydropower project in Dong Nai province had an important implication in economic development, serving residential needs of people in the South, maintaining and stabilizing the local socio-political security situation in the post-liberation period.
Tri An Hydropower Plant has ensured electricity supply for 16 provinces and cities in the South; irrigating more than 20,000 hectares of fields and farmlands in its downstream areas.
Director of Tri An Hydropower Company gave a photo of Tri An Hydropower Project to Mr. Alexey Popov, Consulate General of Russia in Ho Chi Minh City
The construction of Tri An hydropower project required an excavation of 23 million m3 of soils and rocks, 580,000m3 of concrete, 73,000 tons of steel structures and equipment, an average number of workers from 8,000 - 10,000 people being mobilized at the construction site, at peak construction time in 1987 this number reached 19,000 people as the highest one.
These impressive figures show that the construction of Tri An Hydropower Project mobilized a lot of resources and received a high consensus of people, especially Dong Nai residents who had to resettle to serve the project construction.
And more specifically, to complete this project in the shortest time, the Soviet Union dispatched about 500 experts, engineers and technicians to Dong Nai. At the same time, they assisted Vietnam to train a qualified workforce who could take over and operate the project after the Soviet experts came back to their country.
On April 30, 1988, unit No.1 of Tri An Hydropower Plant was officially put into operation and synchronized with the national power grid. With a capacity of 400MW at that time, Tri An Hydropower Plant was the second largest in the country.
Since then, Tri An Hydropower Plant has operated safely, uninterruptedly, effectively, in compliance with operation modes, well performing economic and technical indicators of the project.
Speaking at the ceremony, Chairman of the Union of Friendship Organizations of Dong Nai province Bui Ngoc Thanh emphasized that Vietnam and the former Soviet Union, the Russian Federation nowadays, have had a good traditional friendship. Particularly as for Dong Nai province, Tri An Hydropower Plant is a result of Vietnam - Soviet friendship. In the period of severe electricity shortage, the establishment of Tri An Hydropower Plant had significant political and economic implications, played a critical role in the power system in the South, enabling the South to restore production activities and develop the economy.
Today, Tri An Hydropower Plant is a multi-purpose project, having different functions including flood control, water supply and electricity generation. In particular, the role of flood control helped the downstream area to be less flooded; less affected by saltwater intrusion, less lack of water for production and residential activities in dry seasons, helping farmers develop production.
Mr. Alexey Popov, Consulate General of Russia in Ho Chi Minh City, said that Russia always supported the development of cooperative and mutually beneficial relationships with all countries in the world, especially with countries in the Asia-Pacific region. The friendship and cooperation between Vietnam and Russia will be strengthened and developed for interests of the people of the two countries, for the region's security and prosperity.