Ban Ve Hydro, Vietnam

The 320MW Ban Ve hydroelectric power plant is nearing completion in the central Nghe An province's Tuong Duong District of Vietnam. The plant is the first hydroelectric project to have been built wholly by Vietnam. Construction began in September 2004 and the plant should be producing more than 1.76 billion kWh a year when both 160MW turbine groups begin operating in 2009.

Located on the Ca River, the facility cost more than VND 6.1tn (US $390m), including construction expenses and interest on loans. Electricity of Vietnam, the plant's main investor, hopes to have an annual turnover of VND 900-1,000bn (US $57-64m). Electricity will be linked to the national grid across a 200km transmission line that will run from the plant to a transformer station in Vinh City.

Renewables dominate Vietnamese electricity generation

Vietnam’s per capita electricity consumption is among the lowest in Asia, but is rising. There have been higher living standards and rapid growth in the commercial sector, with many people moving to major cities. That is pushing up electrical demand, which is predicted to grow by 15% a year until at least 2010, and Vietnam has limited generating capacity.

According to REEEP (Renewable Energy & Energy Efficiency Partnership), the main sources for electricity generation in Vietnam are renewables (46.4%), coal (17.7%), oil (6.5%) and gas (29.4%). Since 1990, Vietnam has been a net energy exporter, mainly of crude oil and coal. Its lack of refining capacity means that the country fills most of its domestic consumption from imports.

At the moment, Vietnam buys power from China and (from this year) Laos. It is planning more than 30 power stations with total capacity of over 7,500MW by 2010, along with its first nuclear power plant.

Building a national grid in Vietnam

Vietnam’s distribution infrastructure has recently been improved, and EVN (Electricité of Vietnam, the state power company) by 2020 aims to patch together several regional grids to produce a national electricity grid. The country adopted an ambitious plan for 32 power stations (16 of which are hydro power stations) generating over 7,500MW before 2010. Ban Ve was one of five hydro projects that started in 2004. In the first half of 2008, ten hydro projects totalling nearly 400MW came on line in the highlands and central provinces.

Even with Vietnam’s improvement of its rural electrification grid, over three million rural households will still not have access to electricity before 2010. Many could be reached by distributed and renewable energy sources, though.

Reservoir to supply farms, prevent flooding

As well as adding to the national power grid network, Ban Ve is expected to benefit other industries in the region by around US $5m per year. The plant's 1.8 million cubic metre reservoir will supply water for agriculture and aqua-culture in the districts of Tuong Duong, Con Cuong, Anh Son, Nam Dan and Do Luong. It will also prevent flooding and provide water during the dry season. As part of a project to connect regional power grids, the power station will be linked to Nam Mo hydro-electric power plant in neighbouring Laos across a 110kV transmission line.

Songda Corporation, which specialises in infrastructure projects (particularly hydro) is the main contractor for Ban Ve, with Cavico Vietnam as subcontractor. Cavico Vietnam is constructing the tunnels and one third of the plant base, and is in charge of the stone mining. The plant's 135m dam will be Vietnam's tallest.

A serious rockslide occurred at the Ban Ve construction site in December 2007, burying 18 workers and engineers under 500,000 tons of stone.