Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Vietnam: Quang Nam gets hydro-power plants

Vietnam: Quang Nam gets hydro-power plants

The central province of Quang Nam plans to build four hydro-power plants in
the mountainous district of Nam Tra My for socio-economic development of a
key national ginseng centre.

The plan was submitted by the provincial People's Committee at the
province's people's council meeting last week.

The chairman of the district's People's Committee, Ho Quang Buu, told the
Viet Nam News that the four hydro-power plants will supply power for 80 per
cent of the population. Currently only 30 per cent have accessed the
national power grid through a 35kv line from Tam Ky City, so it often
suffers power cuts during storms and the rainy season.

Buu said the hydro-power plants will not require a reservoir and dam, and
will be supplied with water through tunnels from streams in the basin of the
Tranh River.

He said the four-plant project is included in the district's Master Plan for
developing the area into the national ginseng farm and production centre.

The four plants were designed with a total capacity of 78.8 MW (megawatts)
to produce 258.38 kilowatt per hour. They will cover an aea of 144ha, of
which 60ha is forestry land, but no land clearance costs will be antailed
since the area is uninhabited.

The district has planned a ginseng area on 15,000ha in seven mountainous
communes in the district for 2030, and infrastructure projects with a total
investment of VND9 trillion (nearly US$400 million).

Last year, seven investors agreed to invest $221 million to farm ginseng and
process plants of essential oils, cosmetics, tonic drinks and capsules from
ginseng in the district.

According to the district, more than 42,000ha of primary forests have been
well preserved in development of the ginseng and native herbs.

According to a report by the provincial industry and trade department, Quang
Nam Province planned 32 hydro-power plants, of which 11 have been put into
operation, with a total capacity of 450MW (supplying 1.75 billion kilowatts
per hour each year). More than 1,420ha of forest were cleared for the 11
plants.

The rest of the planned facilities - 23 in number - were scrapped in 2010
following experts' warnings that the province had developed too many
hydropower projects, worsening serious land erosion in the river basin.

Buu said the district and province will scrutinize the four hydro-power
plants for their environmental impact and safety conditions.

Quake worries

Bui Thi Thu Hien of the International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN)
once said: "Many hydropower plants in Quang Nam Province were built without
any consultation or feedback from neighbouring provinces and downstream
areas, while investors and management agencies neglected to draw up detailed
flood control plans."

Nam Tra My District - 50km away from the Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant - was
shaken by two earthquakes in March due to seismic activity. Neighbouring Bac
Tra My District, which is home to the Song Tranh 2 hydro-power plant, had
been stricken by over 20 earthquakes and tremors between 2012 and 2015.

In 2012, experts concluded that the series of tremors in the area was due to
seismic activity caused by water stored in the hydropower plant reservoir,
and the magnitude of earthquakes had not exceeded the reservoir's capacity
to withstand quakes (of up to 5.5 magnitude).

The biggest quake recorded so far has been of 4.7 magnitude on the Richter
scale in 2012 in Bac Tra My District. Last year, the Song Bung 2 Hydropower
Plant in the central province had its water valves broken in an incident
that left two workers missing.

Several leaks were also found on the dam of the Song Tranh 2 hydro-power
plant in 2012.

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Link to Original Article:
https://www.vietmaz.com/2017/07/quang-nam-gets-hydro-power-plants/?utm_sourc
e=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+vietmaz+%28VietMaz%29


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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com

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