500kV circuit-3 transmission line from Quang Trach to Pho Noi: The power of solidarity turns the impossible into possible

With high technical requirements, complexity, a large construction volume, and countless difficulties in terms of weather and terrain, when it was first deployed, few people believed that the 500kV circuit-3 transmission line from Quang Trach (Quang Binh) to Pho Noi (Hung Yen) could be completed on schedule. However, with the united strength of the entire political system, the project has turned the seemingly impossible into possible - finishing in just over 6 months of construction.

Timely removal of “bottlenecks”

The 500kV circuit-3 transmission line from Quang Trach to Pho Noi, is a large-scale investment with four component projects, a total length of 519km, two circuits, and a total investment of over 22,300 billion VND. Typically, a similar project would require at least 3-4 years to complete. However, the government has set an urgent goal of finishing this transmission line within six months. From the beginning, many considered this an almost "impossible" task due to the countless challenges to be faced.

First and foremost, significant challenges have arisen in the process of compensation and land clearance. The project passes through 9 provinces, 43 districts, and 211 communes, requiring the acquisition of approximately 1.83 million m² of land, as well as the relocation, support, resettlement, and stabilization of production for 5,415 households.

On 27-28 January 2024, during an on-site inspection of the construction site and a virtual meeting with representatives from 9 provinces, the Prime Minister – Mr. Pham Minh Chinh highlighted the significant delays and challenges faced in land clearance.

At this working session, the Prime Minister emphasized the project's national importance and called for collective efforts from all ministries, agencies, and provinces involved, as well as affected residents. He urged for a more innovative approach, stating that while the project's investor had been the sole responsible party in the past, local authorities must now actively participate in resolving issues and work together to prioritize the nation's interests. Following the meeting, the Prime Minister's called for immediate action and the "only discussing work, not delays", “eat up, sleep quickly, working 3 shifts, 4 teams through holidays, Tet” attitude was widely spread throughout the system. Local authorities promptly took action to overcome challenges.

Mr. Thai Thanh Quy, Secretary of the Nghe An Provincial Party Committee, shared that the province faced immerse pressure due to the project’s demanding timeline. With nearly 100 kilometers of the transmission line passing through the province, involving 202 tower foundations and spanning complex terrain across six districts, the task of land acquisition and resettlement was daunting. However, in response to the Prime Minister's directive, Nghe An province identified the project implementation as one of the key, important political tasks that was given top priority. The entire political system got involved, in the spirit of urgency, determination, flexibility, "addressing issues on-site". When problems and situations arose, the provincial leaders were present at the scene to focus on handling them; Upon receiving information reflecting problems, the province will inspect and resolve reported problems immediately.

In Ha Tinh province, to facilitate the project, the province had to clear land and acquire more than 581,000 m² at the foundation sites and nearly 4 million m² within the safety corridor, affecting 1,276 households. Mr. Hoang Trung Dung, Secretary of the Ha Tinh Provincial Party Committee, stated that Ha Tinh province has focused on propaganda, mobilization, and raising public awareness, responsibility, and rights; implementing the principle of continuous propaganda, multi-dimensional mobilization; and promoting propaganda as a shared responsibility of all levels and sectors through mass media, social networks, and word of mouth. During the implementation process, officials and party members must set an example and create a spreading effect. The police and military forces must closely monitor the situation at the grassroots level, regularly report emerging issues to the party committee, and promptly prevent bad elements from distorting information and inciting the people...

Moreover, during the project implementation process, the investor, contractors, and local authorities encountered many difficulties in accessing forests to create temporary roads and temporary works for construction due to the lack of legal regulations guiding procedures for forest impact. The Prime Minister immediately took action. Under the close and decisive direction of the Government leaders and the involvement of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, on March 6^th 2024, the Government issued Decree No. 27/2024/ND-CP amending and supplementing a number of articles of Decree No. 156/ND-CP dated November 16^th 2018, which stipulates the temporary use of forests for the construction of power grids for the benefit of the nations and the public, promptly removing this bottleneck...

With great efforts and decisive actions from the central government to local authorities, especially with the support of the local people, the task of land clearance - which has been a major bottleneck for many power projects - has been promptly resolved, allowing the investor to hand over foundation sites and anchor spans to the contractor according to the construction schedule.

Flexibility and creativity in implementation

The 500kV circuit-3 transmission line from Quang Trach to Pho Noi required a massive amount of materials and equipment within a short period of time, constantly facing the risk of shortages and delays in the supply of materials, equipment, and machinery for construction.

With 1,177 tower locations being deployed simultaneously, mobilizing machinery, especially specialized equipment, was a complex challenge. Notably, 239 out of 1,177 foundation locations required pile driving, necessitating the simultaneous mobilization of heavy-duty pile drivers with an average construction time of 100 days per foundation, while the number of pile drivers available from contractors was limited. At times, due to a shortage of pile drivers, EVN/EVNNPT leaders frequently visited the construction site to closely work with contractors in mobilizing and allocating machinery and equipment to ensure construction progress.

The supply of steel poles was another significant challenge. With 1,177 pole locations requiring over 139,000 tons of steel, and a tight deadline, steel manufacturers had to mobilize all resources and work overtime to meet the schedule. To ensure timely completion, EVN/EVNNPT and contractors implemented a range of synchronized, flexible, and innovative solutions to address emerging issues and ensure a sufficient supply of input materials. Specifically, EVNNPT sent representatives to work directly with foreign equipment and material manufacturers to negotiate, bargain, and arrange imports; EVN/EVNNPT leaders and project management boards visited manufacturing plants to inspect and expedite deliveries; and suppliers were requested to prioritize resources for the production of equipment and materials for this national key project…

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and the General Department of Customs directed and worked tirelessly to facilitate the timely delivery of imported materials and equipment. Vietnam Railways, a maritime transport unit, promptly "supported" nearly 1,000 containers of imported materials and equipment from foreign countries to Vietnam for timely and quality handover to construction units. One of the "special features" and significant challenges in the construction of the 500kV circuit-3 transmission line from Quang Trach to Pho Noi was the extremely harsh terrain and weather. The line passes through many locations over ponds, swamps requiring materials and equipment to be transported manually due to inaccessible areas for motorized vehicles. In mountainous areas, long and steep pole foundations made it extremely difficult to transport equipment during rainy days due to slippery slopes, requiring specialized vehicles…

In addition, unfavorable weather conditions, with unpredictable and harsh rain and sunshine during April, May, June, July, and August, posed further challenges. In the provinces of Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Nghe An, and Thanh Hoa, there were frequent heatwaves and heavy rains accompanied by thunderstorms, while areas in the Hoanh Son mountain often experienced strong winds for 3 to 7 hours per day, forcing work to stop to ensure the safety of workers and equipment.

Difficulties piled up, there were times when construction units and contractors thought it impossible to overcome. However, with a flexible approach and innovative solutions, the investor and contractors successfully managed the project and ensured its timely completion.

Mr. Vu Anh Duong - General Director of PC1 Group JSC, shared that while participating in the construction of the 500kV circuit-3 transmission line project, all units felt the sincere, decisive, and constant support of the investor, who gradually removed all obstacles. In addition, the investor made full use of digital technology in project management, operation, and supervision, providing real-time progress updates. Notably, numerous innovative ideas and advanced technologies were applied for the first time, bringing many benefits such as: using specialized equipment and mechanization to accelerate progress, such as specialized pile drivers, ready-mixed concrete and specialized pumps; using large cranes for pole erection; using flying equipment to pull and lay pilot lines, and synchronized hydraulic tensioning equipment capable of simultaneously pulling and laying four large-sized conductors with long spans...

A testament of faith and unity

The 500kV circuit-3 transmission line project is perhaps the power transmission line project with the record number of participants, with approximately 23,000 people involved.

During the foundation construction phase, the project mobilized over 7,273 local unskilled laborers under the "four-on-site" principle. Moving on to the pole erection and stringing phase, due to the specific nature of the work, the workforce required specialized skills, good health to work at heights, high intensity, and for many consecutive days in harsh weather conditions of heat, sun, and strong winds. At this point, a new challenge arose: the contractor could only meet 50% of the workforce requirement.

The spirit of “Only discuss doing, not delays” has continued to be promoted. In response to the Prime Minister's directive and EVN's call, agencies and units have actively participated, supporting EVN/EVNNPT and contractors in all aspects. Notably, EVN has mobilized over 3,300 highly skilled engineers and technicians from 5 Power Generation Corporations and 4 National Power Transmission Corporations. Viettel, VNPT, and PVN groups have additionally provided more than 250 engineers and workers to participate in erecting poles and pulling wires. The police, military, and militia forces have mobilized up to 1,500 people to support the transportation of equipment, wire pulling at difficult construction sites, and ensuring security and order. Youth unions in provinces have mobilized hundreds of teams with over 6,000 members to support cleaning houses, structures under the line corridor, and traffic management...

Simultaneously, agencies and organizations from the Central to local levels, such as the Fatherland Front, the Labor Federation, and the Women's Union, have regularly visited and encouraged, actively participating in logistics work, ensuring food and supplies for engineers and workers participating in the project. Local authorities and police forces have ensured security and order, and arranged for the construction force's accommodation...

It can be said that the entire political system has contributed to the Vietnam Electricity industry's creation of a new milestone in building the North-South 500kV ultra-high voltage transmission line.

EVN General Director – Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan shared that if the 500kV circuit-1 transmission line was built with a spirit of daring to do and take responsibility, the 500kV circuit-2 transmission line was built with a spirit of promoting internal strength and demonstrating the ability of national self-reliance, then the 500kV circuit-3 transmission line was built on the spirit of promoting the collective strength of the entire political system from ministries, agencies, and local authorities to local people who have joined hands and hearts to overcome difficulties, innovate working methods, and after more than 6 months of construction, it has been completed on schedule.

At the inauguration ceremony on August 29^th 2024, the Prime Minister affirmed: The 500kV circuit-3 transmission line is a project of faith and great solidarity, the viewpoint "People are the root" of our Party and State, the joint efforts, solidarity, and participation of the entire political system under the Party's leadership. It is also a project that demonstrates the aspirations, confidence, bravery, and values of Vietnamese people, with the spirit of "turning the impossible into the possible, turning difficulties into ease," the spirit of innovation, creativity, self-reliance, and the strong determination of our country to overcome challenges.

500kV circuit-3 transmission line from Quang Trach to Pho Noi - Investor: National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT) - Total investment: over 22,000 billion VND - Scale: 500kV double-circuit transmission line with total length of 519km. Starting point is Quang Trach Power Center (Quang Binh province), ending point is 500kV Pho Noi Substation (Hung Yen province). - Engineering consultants: Power Engineering Consulting Joint Stock Company 1,2,4 and Institute of Energy Completion and energization progress of 4 sections of 500kV circuit-3 transmission line from Quang Trach to Pho Noi: 500kV Nam Dinh I TPP - Thanh Hoa: 30th June 2024; 500kV Nam Dinh I TPP - Pho Noi: 19th August 2024; 500kV Quynh Luu - Thanh Hoa: 19th August 2024; 500kV Quang Trach - Quynh Luu: 27th August 2024.

Refer here for more information of the 500kV circuit-3 transmission line project from Quang Trach to Pho Noi.