EVN and EVNNPT have made great efforts in implementing the 500Kv circuit-3 transmission line project, from Quang Trach to Pho Noi

This was acknowledged by Mr Nguyen Hong Dien - Minister of Industry and Trade, Standing Deputy Head of the State Steering Committee for national key programs, projects and important energy projects when he chaired a regular meeting to review the progress of the 500kV circuit-3 transmission line projects, from Quang Trach to Pho Noi, on the morning of March 26^th.

The meeting was held in a combination of in-person and online formats, connecting to the meeting points of the People's Committees of 9 provinces through which the transmission lines pass.

Attending the meeting were leaders of Departments and Agencies under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises and relevant Ministries and sectors; leaders of the People's Committees of 9 provinces: Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen.

On the side of Vietnam Electricity, there were Mr. Dang Hoang An - Chairman of the Board, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan – President & CEO, Mr. Pham Hong Phuong – Vice President, and leaders of the National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT).

99.99% of foundation positions are under simultaneous construction

Reporting at the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan – EVN’s President & CEO said that, following the directives of the Prime Minister, the drastic involvement of local authorities, and the great efforts and determination of EVN/EVNNPT and contractors, the project has so far handed over 100% of tower foundation positions and 43.34% of anchor spans. Currently, contractors are simultaneously implementing construction on the entire route of 1176/1177 positions (reaching 99.99%), with only 1 position pending negotiation of compensation costs with households to build access roads for construction; completed casting of foundations for 321/1177 positions; received and handed over to construction sites 104/1177 steel towers; completed erecting 23/1177 steel towers and are erecting 49/1177 steel towers.

Implementing the Prime Minister's direction on deploying the "4 on-site" approach, EVN/EVNNPT has promptly and actively coordinated with local authorities. So far, 2,332 machines and construction vehicles have been mobilized/rented from 125 companies and 93 individuals in localities; mobilized/hired 7,433 people from 25 companies and 191 teams, accounting for about 87% of the common workers participating in the implementation; more than 96% of construction materials were purchased from 223 local companies, etc.

In parallel, EVN, EVNNPT, the Northern and the Central Power Projects Management Board (NPMB, CPMB), engineering consulting units, and construction supervision consulting units are regularly present at construction sites to direct and urge each contractor to focus all resources to accelerate the construction progress; regularly inspect the third shift (night shift) construction to encourage and motivate the spirit of the workers on site.

For contractors that are behind schedule or at risk of falling behind schedule, the project owner has directly inspected and worked at construction sites and manufacturing plants, promptly coordinated and supported contractors to remove any obstacles or problems that may arise.

Difficulties still remain

Despite many efforts, the 500kV circuit-3 transmission line projects, from Quang Trach to Pho Noi are still facing many difficulties and obstacles.

Specifically, the entire project has 240 pile foundations, which take a long time to construct and require specialized construction equipment such as pile pressing robots and pile driving machines. Simultaneously mobilizing a large number of machines for 240 pile foundation positions on the entire route in a short time is very difficult. Not to mention, in many localities, there are no high-capacity pile pressing/pile driving machines, so they have to be mobilized from other regions, causing delays; many foundation positions are isolated by surrounding ponds, lakes, canals, and rivers, so building access roads for pile pressing machines takes a lot of time, effort and costs, as the machines have a large load capacity (200 tons/machine). 

Site clearance, resettlement arrangement, building access roads for construction, etc. still have some problems.

Not only that, the total steel volume of the 4 circuit-3 projects is nearly 140,000 tons of steel, manufactured into 1,177 towers in a very short time (105 days). Therefore, many units could not import input materials in time and were overloaded compared to their production capacity at certain times, causing delays in supplying steel towers. For large steel sections, only a few domestic manufacturers can meet the requirements, while the rest must be imported.

EVN/EVNNPT and NPMB, CPMB have continuously inspected manufacturing plants and urged contractors/tower manufacturing units to accelerate the progress of importing input materials, strengthening human resources, optimizing production lines and prioritizing the 500kV circuit-3 transmission line projects. For some manufacturing units showing signs of overload, EVN/EVNNPT and NPMB, CPMB have worked with manufacturers to supplement more capable units to support the main contractor in manufacturing steel towers.

In addition, at construction sites, NPMB and CPMB have implemented additional construction management solutions, transferring different types of towers between construction packages to supply towers for completed foundation positions synchronically, in order to minimize the situation where foundations are completed but have to wait for towers and vice versa.

Speaking at the meeting, Mr. Dang Hoang An - EVN's Chairman of the Board acknowledged and highly appreciated the involvement of local authorities in the past time in compensation and site clearance as well as coordinating with the investor in implementing the "4 on-site" approach. EVN's leaders strongly hope that, in the coming time, local authorities will be more drastic in their involvement, especially in coordinating with the investor in clearing the corridor and building access roads to positions, etc., so that construction contractors can accelerate the progress.

More drastic involvement of the entire political system

Directing the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Hong Dien - Minister of Industry and Trade acknowledged that, in the past time, Ministries, sectors, People's Committees of 9 provinces through which the projects pass, Vietnam Electricity and the National Power Transmission Corporation have made efforts and strived to strictly implement the directives of the Government and the Prime Minister, so the work of site clearance, handing over route corridors and organizing construction, etc. has seen positive changes.

However, according to the Minister of Industry and Trade, currently some items have not yet achieved the set targets. The handover of route corridor has so far only reached 43.04%, with 285 anchor spans have not been handed over yet. If the obstacles are not thoroughly resolved to hand over the entire route corridor, there will be a risk of seriously affecting the progress of the projects.

The Minister of Industry and Trade said that more drastic involvement of the entire political system is needed. In which, the People's Committees of provinces through which the projects pass need to coordinate with the investor to strengthen communication and persuasion, so that households agree to hand over the entire route corridor in March 2024.

At the same time, localities need to continue to support the investor and contractors in negotiating and building access roads for construction and material storage yards, especially for some positions that are facing difficulties and cannot be deployed for construction (including obstacles at position 127 of the 500kV Quang Trach - Quynh Luu transmission line project).

The Minister of Industry and Trade requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to continue monitoring and guiding provinces and EVN/EVNNPT to implement Decree No. 27/2024/ND-CP dated March 6^th 2024 to promptly handle any arising problems.

For EVN and EVNNPT, the Minister of Industry and Trade requested to continue strengthening inspection and urging contractors to focus all resources and accelerate construction progress, especially for positions with difficult terrain and affected by weather that need to make up progress; soon complete the procedures for re-selecting contractors for the supply package of insulators for the Quang Trach - Quynh Luu project; continue to coordinate with localities to complete documents and procedures related to compensation and site clearance, etc., ensuring the completion of the project in accordance with the Prime Minister's directives.