Completion of 500 kV line circuit 3 on the occasion of National Day September 2nd

On the afternoon of July 22, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh chaired a meeting with ministries, branches and localities on the implementation of the project to build the 500kV power transmission line circuit 3 (Pho Noi, Hung Yen to Quang Trach, Quang Binh) passing through Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh provinces.

This is the 4th meeting, along with the 4 times the Prime Minister has chaired, inspected, urged and encouraged project implementation in the past 6 months.

Also attending were Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha; Minister, Head of the Government Office Tran Van Son; Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien; Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises Nguyen Hoang Anh; Chairman of the Vietnam General Confederation of Labor Nguyen Dinh Khang; leaders of ministries, branches and leaders of the three provinces of Thanh Hoa, Nghe An and Ha Tinh.

Before the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh informed the delegates about the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and the preparations for the State funeral. Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and the delegates observed a minute of silence to commemorate General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong - a great intellect, thinker, theorist, and outstanding leader, always close to the people, a typical example of a true communist, absolutely loyal to the Party, the Fatherland, and the People.

Previously, in Official Dispatch No. 71/CD-TTg dated July 21, 2024, upon the passing of General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, the Prime Minister requested Ministers, Heads of ministerial-level agencies, Government agencies, Chairmen of People's Committees of provinces and centrally run cities to turn grief into action and successfully implement the goals and targets of the 2024 Socio-Economic Development Plan.

Speaking at the opening of the meeting, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh emphasized that the 13th National Party Congress determined to implement 3 strategic breakthroughs, including infrastructure breakthroughs in transport infrastructure and energy infrastructure. In 2023, although the Government, ministries and sectors proactively directed, local power shortages still occurred during peak times.

Faced with this situation, the Government and the Prime Minister have inspected and surveyed and found that overall the country does not lack electricity. However, during peak usage periods, some power plants in the North stop operating for maintenance, some hydroelectric plants do not operate at full capacity due to lack of water; while in the South there is a surplus of electricity, some plants operate at a low capacity.

In that situation and forecast that our country's socio-economic situation will continue to grow, the demand for electricity will also increase. Therefore, the Government decided to urgently build the 500kV power transmission line circuit 3 Quang Trach - Pho Noi and determined to implement it with new thinking, new ways of directing, operating, organizing and implementing with the mobilization and participation of the entire political system, ministries, branches, especially localities; shortening the construction time from 2-3 years as before to about 6 months. The results of implementing this project left many valuable lessons for implementing other major projects of the country.

According to the Prime Minister, although the 500kV circuit 3 project has not been inaugurated, learning from previous years' experiences, the Government, ministries, branches and localities have not been negligent or subjective; developed plans early and organized implementation according to the plan, avoiding risks, not allowing sudden or unexpected events to occur, especially due to management factors and due to organization and implementation management... Thanks to that, in 2024, the limitations have been overcome, there will be no power shortage for production, business and consumption...

The 500kV power transmission line project, circuit 3, Quang Trach - Pho Noi, about 519km long, passing through 9 provinces, with a total investment of about 22,000 billion VND, started construction in January 2024. To date, the site clearance and compensation work has been completed and all pole foundation locations and route corridors have been handed over.

The units have supplied and handed over materials and equipment for constructing columns at 1,132/1,177 synchronized column locations, reaching 96%; and are handing over some additional missing or incorrect bar and accessory details for the remaining 45 column locations. The supply of other materials and equipment such as conductors, insulators, optical cables, and accessories has been basically completed and handed over to construction contractors. To date, the construction units have completed casting column foundations; completed erection of 1,003/1,177 column locations, reaching 85%, and are erecting the remaining 174/1,177 column locations.

Along with assessing the efforts to achieve high results, at the meeting, leaders of ministries and branches pointed out some difficulties and proposed solutions to bring the project to the finish line soon. In particular, delegates said that currently, along with the severe heat, it is also the rainy and stormy season, especially in localities considered "rain pockets, fire pans", construction is difficult, even having to stop at many times to ensure the safety of equipment and workers.

To overcome this difficulty, implementing the direction of the Government and the Prime Minister, the Electricity Corporation (EVN), the National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT) and contractors took advantage of the weather to gather materials and equipment to the construction site, based on actual weather developments, pushed the work schedule forward or finished work late at the end of the day, organized camps for eating and resting near the construction site, made the most of human resources possible... to be determined and strive to complete the remaining projects as directed.

The Electricity Group and the National Power Transmission Corporation have implemented many solutions to increase appropriate human resources for contractors, minimizing impacts on the progress of the projects. In particular, mobilizing maximum human resources from units in the Electricity Group, the Military Industry-Telecoms Group (Viettel), the Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN), and the Vietnam Posts and Telecommunications Group (VNPT) to strengthen construction for the projects; at the same time, mobilizing local forces in localities, especially union members and youth, to support construction units with tasks within their capabilities and to encourage the spirit of workers at the construction site.

In addition, for some steel pole supply packages that lack synchronization, the Electricity Group and the National Power Transmission Corporation require contractors to increase manpower, perform "3 shifts, 4 shifts, 24/7" processing, through holidays and days off to urgently complete missing or different pole details; flexibly carry out steel pole transportation to shorten transportation time, handover to the construction site to meet the pole erection schedule.

Leaders of ministries, branches, localities and units are determined to overcome difficulties; coordinate to implement tasks and solutions to complete the project, celebrate the 79th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2 (1945-2024).

Concluding the meeting, the Prime Minister affirmed that the 500kV Line 3, Quang Trach - Pho Noi, is a key project of great significance to the socio-economic, national security and defense of the country and the social security of the areas through which the line passes. This is a double-circuit line (with twice the number of wires than normal lines); some poles are up to 200 meters high and some poles use more than 300 tons of steel.

The project was started in cold weather, then in the hot season, passing through a complex terrain, the locality is known as “rain bag, fire pan”, after just over 6 months, the project has achieved a large volume of work. “The results achieved are very valuable; I admire the electricians, engineers at the construction sites and the support and participation of the people where the power line passes,” the Prime Minister emphasized.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh pointed out 6 lessons learned during the project implementation process. These are scientific and methodical leadership and direction; strengthening inspection, urging, encouraging, and sharing with units and those directly performing the construction work at the construction site; assigning tasks with "clear people, clear work, clear responsibilities, clear progress, clear results"; "high determination, great efforts, drastic actions, with focus, key points, finishing each job"; mobilizing the combined strength of political systems from the central to local levels to join in; doing a good job of mass mobilization to get people's support and participation; ministries, branches, investors, units, contractors, cadres, and workers at the construction site to deploy with determination and drasticness; ministries, branches, agencies, localities, and units to coordinate closely; creating emulation movements, with many initiatives...

Recalling the spirit of “One call, all respond, top and bottom are of one mind, clear communication across the board,” paying tribute to General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh requested ministries, branches, localities, and units to strive to complete projects to celebrate the 79th anniversary of the August Revolution and National Day September 2 (1945-2024).

The Prime Minister requested construction units to rebuild the critical path according to the new target; speed up, speed up even more, coordinate more closely between forces, levels, and sectors at the construction site, compete to promote project construction, ensure quality, technique, aesthetics, hygiene, and labor safety. At the same time, determine to remove difficulties, overcome challenges with the spirit of "working, not retreating"; continue to propagate, create momentum, motivation, inspiration, and trust to spread throughout the country, especially for key works and projects; together with the construction organization, do the work of restoration, environmental sanitation, and prepare for acceptance in accordance with the provisions of law.

The Prime Minister requested ministries, branches, localities and units to “try harder; unite more; be more determined; be more effective,” with the highest spirit and responsibility to achieve the set goals.

In particular, the units accelerated the construction of the project with the spirit of "overcoming the sun, overcoming the rain," "working during the day is not enough, working at night," "eating quickly, sleeping urgently." Localities mobilized local forces to take care of food, food, places to eat and rest, ensuring the health of the construction party. The police, the army, along with socio-political organizations such as youth and women supported the construction unit in transporting materials, technical equipment, pulling wires, restoring, protecting the environment... Local enterprises with the capacity to carry out the above tasks in the spirit of "harmonized benefits, shared risks."

The Prime Minister directed the Ministry of Industry and Trade to direct the Electricity Corporation and investors to quickly deploy the factories and power plants in the Electricity Plan VIII. The Ministry of National Defense coordinated with the Electricity Corporation to mobilize engineering forces, heavy machinery and equipment to support the construction of the project, especially pulling wires across the river. The police closely coordinated with local authorities to ensure traffic safety, security and order, and prevent complicated problems from occurring at the project with the spirit of serving the people, creating momentum, movement, trust, and close coordination and cooperation among the forces.

Local leaders continue to urge, direct, visit and encourage units, officers, engineers and workers at the construction site, especially paying attention to the living conditions, accommodation and services at the construction site. At the same time, localities properly resolve compensation and resettlement for people, ensuring that they move to a new place with a life at least equal to or better than their old place. Localities, together with the Government, ministries and branches, remove difficulties; pay attention to the spiritual life of engineers and workers at the construction site.

The Minister of Industry and Trade, Chairman of the State Capital Management Committee at Enterprises, continues to monitor and direct the Electricity Group and the National Power Transmission Corporation to remove difficulties in this project; review and do a good job of acceptance, prepare for summary, draw lessons, and coordinate to do a good job of emulation and reward.