Vietnam invests $260m in new hydropower

Construction of Vietnam’s first hydropower plant, costing US $260million, has begun in Quang Nam’s Nam Giang District in central Vietnam.

Construction of Vietnam’s first hydropower plant, costing US $260million, has begun in Quang Nam’s Nam Giang District in central Vietnam.

The Song Bung 4 hydropower plant is the first to be built under the co-operative efforts of the Vietnamese Government and the Asia Development Bank, which granted a $196 million loan for the project.

The plant will consist of two turbines with capacities of 156MW to provide an average 586 million kWh per year. The first turbine is scheduled for completion in November, 2013, while the second is expected to be operational by March 2014.

The new plant will help ensure energy and water supplies across central provinces, particularly in the dry season, according to Vietnam’s deputy prime minister Hoang Trung Hai.

The Song Bung 4 plant is one of eight projects built along the Vu Gia-Thu Bon river system. The combined projects have total productivity of 1,226 MW and are capable of supplying 4.8 billion kWh annually.

Tags: The Song Bung 4 hydropower plant, Vietnam energy, Vietnam hydropowe power