Groundbreaking ceremony for the first pumped storage hydropower project worth nearly 1 billion USD in Ninh Thuan

Bac Ai pumped storage hydropower project plays an important role in the national power system, helping to stabilize the system and regulate frequency, with an investment scale of up to nearly 1 billion USD.

Construction of Bac Ai pumped storage hydropower plant started - Photo: N.AN

On February 22nd, Vietnam Electricity Group and the Power Project Management Board 3 held a ceremony to launch the construction of the Bac Ai Pumped Storage Hydropower Plant (Phase 2), the first pumped storage hydropower plant in Vietnam.

Unique construction in Vietnam

Phase 2 of the project includes construction items including 4 units, the above reservoir headworks cluster and TPP 500 kV. The project has been approved by the Prime Minister on the conversion of the purpose of using protective forest land; implementation of compensation and site clearance.

Mr. Trinh Minh Hoang - Vice Chairman of Ninh Thuan Provincial People's Committee - said that along with Bac Ai pumped storage hydropower project, which is the only project in Vietnam, the restart of the nuclear power project, a goal to strive for within 5 years, has been approved by the National Assembly and a special policy mechanism for the project has great significance for the locality.

Considering that these two projects have a close relationship to generate electricity and effectively exploit energy resources, Mr. Hoang hopes that EVN will implement the project on schedule. It is necessary to focus resources to speed up construction, ensure quality, prioritize labor settlement, and contribute to promoting local growth.

According to Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, General Director of EVN, if the Bac Ai pumped-storage hydropower project and the Ninh Thuan nuclear power plant project are completed by 2030, Ninh Thuan will become the largest clean energy center in Vietnam and the largest in Southeast Asia.

Bac Ai pumped storage hydropower project plays an important role in the national power system, helping to stabilize the system and regulate frequency. This is a tool to help regulate the power system to operate stably, safely and reliably when the installed capacity of clean energy plants increases to meet the requirements of emission reduction.

Bac Ai Hydropower Plant will pump water from Song Cai Lake to the upper lake to store energy during off-peak hours and transmit it to the national grid during peak hours. Therefore, the project is considered a large and extremely meaningful energy storage system when put into operation in the 2029-2030 period.

The project is expected to be fully operational in May 2031 - Photo: NGOC AN

Speed ​​up progress on schedule, ensure quality

To effectively implement the project, Mr. Tuan requested the contractors in the consortium to urgently mobilize enough human resources, equipment, and prepare enough finance to carry out construction to ensure quality, safety, environmental sanitation, and completion on schedule.

At the same time, the group recommended that the leaders of Ninh Thuan province and the ministries, branches and localities of the project continue to direct and implement the work of compensation and site clearance, and promptly hand over the entire construction site so that the investor can organize and synchronously implement the construction of items to meet the project's progress.

Vietnam Electricity Group assigned the task to Power Project Management Board 3 and the consortium of contractors to manage the project, organize construction to ensure compliance with quality and environmental requirements, focus resources and equipment to speed up progress, and strive to complete the project according to the set plan.

The Bac Ai pumped-storage hydropower plant is being built in Bac Ai district, with the Project Management Board of Power Project 3 acting as the investor's representative to manage and operate the project.

The project has a total investment of 21.1 billion VND, starting in February 2025, expected to generate electricity for Unit 1 in December 2029, Unit 2 in April 2030, Unit 3 in August 2030; Unit 4 in December 2030. The project is expected to be completed in May 2031.

Phase 1 of the project, which involves the spillway structure located deep within the Song Cai hydroelectric reservoir, was constructed by EVN starting in January 2020 and completed and accepted in March 2021, ensuring completion before the Song Cai reservoir began impounding water.

Pumped storage hydropower is a form of hydroelectric power that stores energy, similar to a "battery". The main function of pumped storage hydropower is to accumulate electricity to supplement the system when needed.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khoi-cong-du-an-thuy-dien-tich-nang-dau-tien-gan-1-ti-usd-tai-ninh-thuan-20250222103631598.htm