Efforts to bring electricity to villages

Energize Vang On village, Hung Loi commune, Tuyen Quang province.

Many resources to invest in rural electricity projects

Before the merger, the old Tuyen Quang province set a target of having all villages and hamlets connected to the national grid by 2025. To achieve that goal, the local government has mobilized and combined many resources to build rural electricity projects; in which, the focus is on projects to supply rural electricity from the national grid. In the period of 2016-2025, the locality has completed 31 power lines and transformer stations, supplying electricity to nearly 5,000 households in 81 villages in 29 communes.

By early 2025, the province had reached an important milestone, 100% of villages and hamlets had access to the national grid, completed one year ahead of the resolution of the Tuyen Quang Provincial Congress, term 2020-2025. The last village in the old Tuyen Quang province to have access to the national grid was Vang On village, Trung Minh commune (old), now Hung Loi commune. The project to supply electricity to Vang On village started in May 2024 with a total investment of 13.5 billion VND.

Overcoming difficulties in terrain conditions and the impact of floods, the project was completed on schedule, energized in early 2025, bringing joy to more than 100 households of Dao and H'Mong ethnic groups. Village head Vang On Giang Seo Sinh emotionally said: The village was established in 1993, and now, after more than 30 years, people have been able to use the national grid. In the past, there was no electricity, people's lives were difficult, the economy was slow to develop, leading to a poverty rate of more than 75%.

From now on, having electricity will motivate people in the village to improve their quality of life, promote economic development, and sustainably reduce poverty. In the old Ha Giang province, in recent years, local authorities have made many efforts to bring electricity to rural areas. In the period 2021-2025, the province has implemented more than 160 investment projects to supply electricity to highland villages. The projects are implemented from many programs such as: Project to supply electricity to remote areas, ethnic minority areas without national grid; project to supply electricity to rural areas from the national grid funded by the EU; new rural construction program; national target program for socio-economic development in ethnic minority and mountainous areas...

Thanks to that, in the old Ha Giang province, nearly 93% of villages, hamlets, and residential groups have access to the national grid; nearly 95% of households have access to the national grid. Notably, in the 2021-2025 period, the province has achieved the goal of having all border villages have access to the national grid. In Lung Cu commune, the construction of a new medium and low voltage grid to supply electricity to the northernmost point was started and completed in 2024.

The project is invested by Ha Giang Electricity Company (old) with a capital of nearly 6.6 billion VND. Mr. Ma Doan Khanh, Vice Chairman of Lung Cu Commune People's Committee, said: "The project to bring electricity to the northernmost point of the country has great significance not only in socio-economic development, ensuring security and national defense, but also promoting tourism and services, because this place is a destination for many tourists".

Strive for all villages to have electricity

After the merger of Tuyen Quang and Ha Giang provinces, the new Tuyen Quang province still has 41 villages and hamlets without national grid electricity and 357 villages and hamlets with national grid electricity, but not yet stable and of good quality. These villages and hamlets are all located in particularly difficult communes, not included in investment programs and projects for the period 2026-2030.

Typically, Thuan Hoa commune still has two villages with nearly 170 households that do not use the national grid; 5 villages with nearly 200 households have electricity but the quality is not guaranteed. In Lung Pu village, where nearly 120 H'Mong households live, they still do not use the national grid even though there are two hydroelectric plants in operation in the village. Lung Pu village chief Sung Van Sinh said: Not having electricity makes it difficult for people to buy household items, cannot invest in production machinery, leading to small-scale livestock farming, low productivity, so life has not improved; the rate of poor and near-poor households is still more than 80%.

Tuyen Quang province has set a target of providing electricity to all villages and hamlets in the area by 2030. To achieve this goal, local authorities and relevant agencies have developed plans and solutions to continue investing in electricity supply and improving the quality of electricity in rural and mountainous areas. According to the calculations of relevant agencies, to invest in electricity for 41 villages and upgrade the electricity system for 357 villages, a capital source of more than 1,230 billion VND is needed, which is a very large number for a mountainous province.

Therefore, the functional sector coordinates with Tuyen Quang Electricity Company and local authorities to review and update the current status of the power grid, develop investment plans, and integrate many capital sources, especially capital from national target programs to ensure the progress and quality of power projects. Recently, the Department of Industry and Trade has sent a document to the Provincial People's Committee on the implementation of the project to supply electricity to villages and hamlets that have not yet used the national grid in the area.

Mr. Hoang Duc Tien, Deputy Director of the Department of Industry and Trade, said: The unit proactively advised the province to submit to the Ministry of Industry and Trade and relevant ministries and branches to allocate capital for the power supply project in the period of 2025-2030. At the same time, it is requested that the Ministry soon complete and submit to the Government for approval the power supply program for rural, mountainous and island areas in the period of 2025-2030, as a basis for localities to implement.

Article and photos: KHANH TOAN, HAI CHUNG

Source: https://nhandan.vn/no-luc-dua-dien-ve-thon-ban-post919703.html