500kV Power Line Project 3 Still ‘Waiting’ for Clearance and Equipment

The meeting was chaired by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien, Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the National Steering Committee for Key National Programs, Projects and Projects in the Energy Sector (Steering Committee); with the participation of members of the Steering Committee, Departments and Departments under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, 9 localities with the 500 kV power line phase 3 passing through, and the Electricity Corporation of Vietnam (EVN) and the National Power Transmission Company (EVNNPT).

8 out of 9 localities have not yet handed over the site

Reporting at the meeting, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, General Director of EVN said: So far, the project has completed the handover of site for 1,177/1,177 tower foot positions and 299/503 corridor spans. Currently, 8/9 localities have not yet completed the handover of the site.

Regarding the corridor, 306/503 spans have been handed over, reaching about 61%, an increase of 54 spans (10.73%) compared to the handover meeting on April 9. Currently, 197/503 spans have not yet been handed over.

“The handover of the corridor site is still slow and has not met the target,” said Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, adding that the reason is that many localities have not yet completed the approval of compensation and support plans for the safety corridor for the spans with houses and architectural structures.

At the meeting, the localities proposed that the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment soon consider approving the Framework for compensation and support policies for site clearance. At the same time, the localities also committed to basically hand over the corridor site in April 2024 to organize the construction of poles and stringing of wires.

Regarding the construction progress, EVN said: The project is carrying out foundation construction simultaneously along the entire route, to date, 767/1,177 foundation positions have been completed, 337/1,177 steel poles have been handed over, 154 steel poles have been completed, 106 steel poles are being installed.

Slow supply of materials and equipment

Not only has the handover of the site related to the corridor been delayed, EVN also said that many packages of materials and equipment supply have been delayed or are at risk of being delayed compared to the contract, which has affected the overall progress of the projects. For example, the total volume of steel poles required for the 4 phase 3 projects is more than 138,000 tons, of which 114,000 tons are produced domestically and 24,000 tons are imported from abroad.

According to EVN’s report, after a survey, the total production capacity declared by domestic units reached about 321,000 tons/year, equivalent to 26.75 thousand tons/month, lower than the required capacity of the phase 3 project of 32.6 thousand tons/month.

In addition, the units are also having to produce for other orders. Thus, the huge demand for steel poles in a short period of time has caused a localized overload for domestic steel pole manufacturing units. A number of contractors are at risk of being behind schedule due to the import of input materials, manufacturing capacity, and mass production in a short period of time.

Concluding at the meeting, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien assessed that in the past two weeks, the People’s Committees of 9 provinces where the project passed through, EVN Group and EVNNPT had continued to give strong direction, so the handover of the corridor site and construction had some positive changes, but had not yet met the plan.

The supply of materials, equipment and construction also faced many difficulties such as: Some packages of materials and equipment supply were delayed or at risk of being delayed compared to the contract, the transportation of insulators back from foreign countries encountered many difficulties, construction was still difficult due to complex terrain and geology, narrow site and difficult access to pole locations for transportation of heavy materials and equipment. If the above difficulties and obstacles are not promptly resolved, it could delay the completion of the projects.

Urgently hand over the site, provide equipment

Implementing the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister, on behalf of the Steering Committee, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien proposed:

Firstly, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and the Government Office coordinate with the Ministries and branches to soon have comments for the Prime Minister to consider and approve the framework for compensation and support policies for site clearance. in April 2024, so that the investor will have sufficient basis to complete the site clearance work.

Secondly, the People’s Committees of the provinces and cities where the project passes through continue to urge and direct departments, branches, districts and towns where the project passes through to strengthen the dissemination and mobilization of households to hand over the remaining spans for the investor to carry out the work of spreading and stringing the wires (expected to start from April 26).

Direct the People’s Committees of districts and towns to approve the compensation方案 for the site of the tower foot and safety corridor in April 2024 so that the investor can complete the compensation work for the people and enterprises. At the same time, urgently determine the number of households/households that must be relocated for resettlement to carry out resettlement procedures for those households, ensuring that the relocation of households is completed before June 15, 2024 to energize the project by the end of June 2024.

Thirdly, EVN/EVNNPT, continue to strengthen inspection, urge and support contractors to focus all resources to accelerate the construction progress;