Electricity lights up the village

- During the past term, along with the long concrete roads, spacious schools, newly built medical stations, the bringing of national grid electricity to the villages has become a strong mark on the journey of change of Lang Son. That light not only dispels the darkness in the remote mountains and forests, but also opens up new opportunities for learning, production and livelihood for the people. The electric poles stretching out in the middle of the forest, the roofs lit up every night - vivid proof of the efforts of the government, the electricity industry and the people in joining hands to build a new life.

With electricity, the lives of people in Ban Mu village, Van Quan commune have improved both materially and spiritually.

According to statistics from the Department of Industry and Trade, at the end of 2020, the whole province still had 22 villages and hamlets with about 2,870 households that did not know about grid electricity. However, after only a few years, the number of "no electricity" was eliminated, replaced by houses with lights all over the mountains. That journey of strong change started from the most remote villages...

Electricity to the village, changing life

Late autumn afternoon, the concrete road leading to Ban Mu village, Van Quan commune became familiar when we returned after nearly 5 years. The old tiled roofs covered with the color of time were still there but the atmosphere was completely different. In each stilt house on the hillside, electric lights shone...

With the funding from the Government 's rural electrification program from the national grid for the period 2015-2020 (project 2081), in early 2021, 75 households in Ban Mu village used electricity for the first time. After nearly 5 years, that electricity not only brought light to every roof, but also lit up the belief in a new life.

In the traditional stilt house, next to an old oil lamp still hanging on the wall, Mr. Chu Van Trong poured a cup of hot tea, moved: "I'm over 55 years old, I've just seen the light this bright. In the past, to make a pot of tea, I had to light the stove for an hour, now it takes a few minutes to have boiling water. Children and grandchildren have study lamps, have TV to know about the world. Life is much more comfortable. We also learn how to make a living to escape poverty sustainably."

Officers of the Van Quan Regional Electricity Management Team check the electricity meter.

Not only Ban Mu, in 2023, 62 Dao households in Lang Kha village, Nhat Hoa commune were also connected to the national grid. Mr. Trieu Hieu Chi, Party Cell Secretary, Head of Lang Kha village excitedly said: Since having grid electricity, life has been completely different. In 2022, the village had 53 poor and near-poor households, now there are only 24 households. Nearly 80% of households have been able to buy televisions, refrigerators, milling machines...

Mr. Duong Huu Phong, Chairman of Nhat Hoa Commune People's Committee, said: Electricity has completely changed the face of the village. Many households have invested in agricultural processing machines and expanded production. Thanks to that, the poverty rate of the commune has decreased to 13.6%. More importantly, with electricity, people feel secure in their homeland and do not leave the village to work elsewhere.

During the 2020-2025 period, power projects, especially Project 2081, have created a clear change in remote, isolated and extremely disadvantaged areas in the province. According to the Department of Industry and Trade, up to now, 100% of communes, wards, villages and hamlets in the province have had electricity; the rate of households using electricity reached 99.88% (more than 207,000 households), of which rural areas reached 99.85%. Project 2081 alone has made an important contribution to eliminating the "blank area" of the national grid, bringing electricity to thousands of households in mountainous and border areas.

Join hands to bring electricity to remote areas

Over the years, the province has always identified bringing the national grid to mountainous and disadvantaged areas as one of its key tasks. The province has set a target of reaching 99.6% of households using the national grid and other suitable power sources by 2025. This is not only essential infrastructure, but also a "lever" for socio -economic development and improving people's lives.

Mr. Dinh Ky Giang, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, emphasized: The industry and trade sector plays a key role in implementing the delivery of electricity to disadvantaged areas. The sector has advised the province to develop and implement the electricity development plan, and is the focal point for coordinating with Lang Son Electricity Company in mobilizing capital sources, selecting investment portfolios, and prioritizing remote and border villages. At the same time, it coordinates with localities in mobilizing people to hand over land, creating favorable conditions for construction projects on schedule. In addition, the sector also orients the development of renewable energy in remote areas where it is difficult to draw electricity, contributing to supplementing the supply source and gradually diversifying the form of electricity supply.

As a unit directly implementing the grid power supply for rural areas, from 2020 up to now, Lang Son Electricity Company has implemented a series of projects to renovate and upgrade the grid with many sources of capital: budget from project 2081, electricity industry capital, preferential loans (ADB, kfW, DEP1, DEP2), and capital from localities. In which, project 2081 is assessed to be large-scale and bring about clear efficiency.

Mr. Pham Ngoc Viet, Head of Technical Department, Lang Son Electricity Company said: Project 2081 has built and renovated more than 281 km of medium voltage lines; 84 transformer stations with a total capacity of 5,295 kVA; nearly 609 km of low voltage lines, with a total capital of nearly 641 billion VND. In addition, the company also invested in renovating more than 53 km of medium voltage lines, 87 transformer stations, 352 km of low voltage lines, with a capital of 287.5 billion VND. These items have contributed to improving power supply capacity, reducing overload, ensuring stable voltage for people, creating more favorable conditions for production and living in rural and mountainous areas.

Sharing specific results, engineer Nong Van Thuan, Deputy Head of the Van Quan Regional Electricity Management Team, said: In the period of 2020 - 2025, to achieve the goal of eliminating "blank" villages and hamlets without national grid electricity, the unit has implemented project 2081, building medium-voltage and low-voltage lines and transformer stations with a total capital of more than 70 billion VND. The project has benefited 300 households in 7 hamlets in Van Quan, Tan Doan and Diem He communes. The implementation process was not easy, in some places, people had to carry each coil of wire over mountains and streams to bring materials into the village. In some places, at first, some households did not understand the policy, so they hesitated to donate land for site clearance. We and the government had to persistently go to each house to persuade and explain the meaning of the project. Thanks to that, many households voluntarily donated land and cut down trees to erect electric poles. The moment you see the electric light shining in the eyes of children and on the faces of the elderly, all fatigue disappears.

Thanks to concerted efforts, by the end of 2023, the entire province had completely eliminated "white" villages and hamlets. Of the total 2,870 households that had not had electricity, 2,340 households were using the national grid. Thereby, raising the rate of households with electricity in the whole province to 99.74%, with 99.65% in rural areas alone. By the end of August 2025, this number will continue to increase to 99.85% in rural areas.

From a province that once had dozens of villages without electricity, Lang Son has now covered the entire national grid. Electricity flows into every meal, cup of tea, page of book, becoming the driving force for socio-economic development.

Currently, the whole province still has 255 households without electricity, mainly in high mountains and fragmented terrain. To solve the problem, the Department of Industry and Trade has advised the Provincial People's Committee to register the project "Rural electricity supply using SETP-EU Program capital". However, due to difficulties in regulations on public investment capital and ODA, the project cannot be implemented. In the coming time, the industry and trade sector will continue to focus on improving the quality of rural electricity infrastructure; coordinate and direct the Electricity Company to renovate and upgrade old power lines and transformer stations, handle overload and weak electricity; encourage the development of solar power and small hydropower to supplement the source. At the same time, mobilize diverse capital sources from the budget, socialization and central support programs, towards the goal that by 2030, 100% of households will have access to stable and sustainable electricity - contributing to improving the quality of life, opening a new future for the border area of ​​​​Xu Lang.

Source: https://baolangson.vn/dien-ve-lang-nang-tam-cuoc-song-5058997.html