Undergrounding the Ha Long urban power grid: Efforts of the Electricity industry and the problem of sustainable development

The Ha Long area is the economic and tourist center of Quang Ninh province, and is increasingly perfecting its civilized and modern urban appearance. To achieve that result, in addition to the development of the transportation and service systems, it is impossible not to mention the silent but determined efforts of the Electricity industry in the work of burying the urban power grid. This is not only a technical project but also a strategic vision, contributing directly to the province's sustainable development goals.

Quang Ninh 's pioneering mark in grid modernization

The undergrounding of the power grid has long been identified by Quang Ninh province as a key policy to ensure safety, improve urban aesthetics and power supply quality. With continuous efforts, Ha Long has become the leading area in the province in urban beautification, with 99% of main streets having underground power grids and telecommunication cables.

Most recently, in the package of 13 Construction Investment projects (DTXD) to serve the hot season in 2025, Quang Ninh Power Company (PC Quang Ninh) continued to emphasize this commitment through 3 projects to prevent overloading of transformer stations and renovate the power grid in the areas of Hoanh Bo, Bai Chay, and Hon Gai in Ha Long in 2025.

Underground works contribute to increasing urban aesthetics for the Ha Long area.

In these projects, PC Quang Ninh has undergrounded nearly 1.7 km of 22 kV medium voltage cable and more than 5.5 km of 0.4 kV low voltage cable. At the same time, it has increased the capacity of 08 substations and built 04 new substations to completely resolve the situation of overload and local power failure.

The above figures show that, although only a part of the overall anti-overload projects, the underground project in Ha Long is a strategic step, affirming the determination of PC Quang Ninh in synchronizing technical infrastructure, moving towards building a smart, modern power grid.

Benefits of “underground construction”

Undergrounding the power grid has brought about outstanding benefits and multi-dimensional impacts on technology, economy and society, namely: Ensuring safety, increasing reliability of power supply, improving urban aesthetics and attracting investment capital.

Overhead power grids always have the potential risk of incidents due to the impact of natural disasters (wind, storms, lightning) and external factors (trees, vehicles). In particular, Quang Ninh is a "shore" locality that is often affected by storms and rains. Underground power grids are the optimal solution to protect the power system, helping to minimize incidents arising from extreme weather factors to improve the reliability of power supply, ensure a safe, continuous and stable power system, effectively serving production, business and daily life of the people.

Furthermore, underground cables also contribute to significantly shortening the time to fix problems. While overhead power grids may need 2 to 3 times longer to rebuild poles and pull wires after a storm, underground cables help limit this damage, supporting the management and operation of the power system more safely and effectively.

Underground cables help shorten troubleshooting time, moving from erecting poles to operating in RMUs and distribution cabinets, thereby optimizing power system management and operation.

In addition, undergrounding the power grid also helps to "clean up the trash in the air", eliminating the image of a tangled "spider web" of electric wires and telecommunication cables. Thanks to that, tourist streets such as Ha Long, Anh Dao, Nguyen Van Cu... have a new look, becoming more spacious and clean.

In addition to the tangible values ​​mentioned above, the underground power grid and upgraded transformer stations not only improve voltage quality but also contribute to building Ha Long into a modern urban area, an important factor attracting tourists and large investors.

Overcoming technical and funding challenges

Despite bringing long-term benefits, undergrounding urban power grids always faces many major challenges, requiring synchronous coordination and large resources, including investment capital pressure and technical level as well as synchronization and site clearance progress.

The cost of undergrounding is a heavy burden. Therefore, Quang Ninh Electricity Company has made efforts to allocate and spread out the capital for construction investment to suit each planning area. In 2025 alone, the Company has allocated 22.4% of the total investment of the whole province for 3 projects in Ha Long. This is a financial resource with a high proportion, demonstrating special attention to improving the efficiency of the power grid in this area.

The spacious, clean roads without electric wires along the shore of Ha Long Bay heritage.

Previously, road and urban construction planning often did not include technical trenches or shared underground roads. This led to the situation where later investment projects had to "overlap" previous projects, causing waste and difficulty in restoring sidewalks. Road and sidewalk excavation to install underground cables can affect traffic and people's daily lives. The Electricity Industry sometimes had difficulty in mobilizing people to agree to relocate electrical equipment such as electrical cabinets and transformer stations on sidewalks.

However, the success of Ha Long lies in the initiative and synchronization in planning between the government and the Electricity and Telecommunications sectors. When sharing the same viewpoint and perspective, the parties involved can easily agree to put the common interests of the province first.

“Electricity is one step ahead”

PC Quang Ninh has been demonstrating its role as a pioneering force, determining the success of undergrounding work. By dedicating a significant portion of the total construction investment capital to undergrounding key areas, the unit has demonstrated its determination to modernize the power grid.

In addition, the Company has proactively coordinated with the specialized agencies of the province in Ha Long to grasp the plan and roadmap for urban renovation, thereby implementing unified and synchronous undergrounding. This synchronization is concretized through the accompanying policy of the Provincial Government in creating land fund and technical trenches, thereby helping the power unit optimize investment resources.

In addition, undergrounding the power grid is accompanied by the application of modern technologies such as SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) systems and the construction of unmanned substations. This is an important step to manage and monitor the operation of the power system in a smart and effective way.

The efforts of PC Quang Ninh not only demonstrate the unit's responsibility for the political task of providing safe and stable electricity, but also make a practical contribution, bringing a new, modern and civilized look to the Ha Long area, creating a solid foundation for the long-term socio-economic development goals of Quang Ninh province.

Xuan Anh (PC Quang Ninh)

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/ha-ngam-hoa-luoi-dien-do-thi-ha-long-no-luc-cua-nganh-dien-va-bai-toan-phat-trien-ben-vung-3382593.html