Minister Nguyen Hong Dien directs immediate tasks for the Lao Cai - Vinh Yen 500kV transmission line project

Determination and encouraging results

According to the report of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), up to now, the work of changing the purpose of forest use of the 500kV Lao Cai - Vinh Yen transmission line project has been completed, the work of compensation and site clearance (BCL) for the column foundation has handed over the site for 434/468 column foundation locations (92.7%), while 34 foundation locations have not been handed over.

Regarding the route corridor, EVNPMB1 has completed the work of measuring, planting and handing over 242/242 anchorage markers (KN) to the locality. Approving and handing over the documents to the locality, of which Lao Cai, Phu Tho, Vinh Phuc provinces have completed; Yen Bai province has completed 10/23 communes, and 13/23 communes EVNPMB1 has submitted the documents for the Provincial Land Registration Office to review and approve.

EVN has also completed contractor selection for 32/36 bid packages.

Regarding construction work, contractors are urgently negotiating/compensating, opening construction roads and implementing foundation excavation. Up to now, roads have been opened for 92 VT, roads are being constructed for 24 VT; construction is underway for 66/468 VT columns.

Overview of the meeting on the 500kV Lao Cai - Vinh Yen line

There are still many difficulties and problems

According to EVN's report, the project still faces many difficulties, especially in site clearance and compensation. Specifically, 34/468 positions of the column foundation have not yet been handed over and 20/434 positions have been handed over but have not yet been put into construction. 10/12 districts have not yet completed the land price approval and 11/12 districts have not yet officially approved the compensation and resettlement support plan (BT, HT & TĐC).

The corridor section of the work route for inventory/approval of BT, HT&TDC plans still faces difficulties, especially those related to forests...

At the meeting, Lao Cai, Yen Bai, Phu Tho and Vinh Phuc localities reported on the project implementation results, accordingly, the localities actively participated in supporting investors and contractors to resolve administrative procedures and site clearance. However, there are still some major difficulties such as determining specific land prices for compensation at different locations, some are tens of millions, some are hundreds of millions. Some localities also requested EVN to coordinate, provide documents and information on specific stuck locations so that the province can have a thorough solution.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien speaks

Things to do now

After listening to the report, opinions of localities, ministries, and branches, and concluding the meeting, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien - Deputy Head of the Standing Committee of the State Steering Committee for important national programs, works, and projects, key to the energy sector - said that the project started in February 2025 and officially started construction on March 16, and that event had the participation of Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, a great honor but also a great responsibility. The project is scheduled to be completed before August 31, 2025.

The Minister also acknowledged and appreciated the determination of localities, ministries, branches, EVN and contractors, and related units who actively implemented the work according to the direction of the Prime Minister and the project achieved encouraging results.

However, besides the positive changes, there are still difficulties and obstacles. Specifically, the entire route still has 34 column foundation locations that have not been handed over, scattered in localities; the entire route corridor through 4 provinces has not been handed over the land, the work of approving land prices and compensation prices is still unfinished; the work of opening temporary construction roads and material gathering areas still faces many difficulties.

Minister Nguyen Hong Dien emphasized that in order to achieve construction progress and ensure project quality requirements, the National Steering Committee requested localities within the project scope to focus on the following tasks:

Firstly, we must mobilize the entire system so that we can help the investor clear the site for both the column positions and the anchorage. Do a good job of propaganda and mobilization to encourage people in the area to support the project implementation. When people support, they will hand over the site for us to construct.

“As you said, if we follow the procedures prescribed by current laws, it is certainly not easy to reclaim the locations, including the foundation pits and the route corridor. The time given by the Prime Minister is not enough, so propaganda work to obtain the land is extremely important,” the Minister noted.

Second, continue the 4-on-site motto to support investors and contractors to be able to implement in the most favorable way and also through this implementation, the works and projects contribute to increasing the socio-economic situation and employment in localities and regions, and their responsibilities at the works are better.

Third, urgently approve specific land prices, issue compensation plans, and support resettlement for column foundation locations before March 31, complete inventory work, develop compensation plans, and support resettlement for the route corridor before April 15 as committed by key local leaders to the Prime Minister, and ensure the given progress.

Fourth, mobilize people to hand over the remaining column foundation positions in March 2025. We request that you work very urgently and hand over the entire corridor before April 30. If this is not achieved, the project's progress will not be guaranteed.

Fifth, request and direct forest owners to complete the plan for exploiting and harvesting forest products and submit it to competent authorities for approval before March 31.

Sixth, direct relevant agencies and units to continue supporting investors and contractors in negotiating construction access roads, opening temporary roads, material staging areas, and supporting contractors in the implementation of these projects.

Regarding the work of Vinh Phuc province, the Minister requested the province to coordinate with the Ministry of National Defense and the Armored Corps to urgently carry out land recovery procedures and hand over the site of location 462 under the management of the Armored Training Center in March 2025.

Direct Tam Dao Irrigation One Member Co., Ltd. to coordinate and support the Investor and the construction contractor to complete the construction license dossier for the location of VT455 column within the protection area of ​​the irrigation project (Ban Long dam) to submit to the competent authority for construction license before April 5, 2025.

The Ministry of Finance should soon give opinions on related issues so that the People's Committees of the provinces have a basis to carry out land recovery procedures, hand over the site and approve the temporary forest use plan for construction.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Environment directed Tam Dao National Park to urgently develop and submit for approval a plan for exploiting and harvesting forest products before March 31, 2025, and at the same time consider allowing contractors to count and cut down trees within the temporary road opening, temporary yard, column foundation location and gather them at the gathering place to have a construction site.

For EVN, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien requested: Continue to coordinate with localities to complete documents and procedures related to compensation, site clearance, payment to people and mobilize people to hand over the site.

Urge and request contractors/construction units to increase human resources, materials, and equipment to promptly start construction as soon as the site is available and construction conditions are met. Take advantage of the current good weather conditions to speed up construction progress at the construction site.

"We must agree with the local authorities on the compensation plan for land clearance and payment to the people, through the local authorities or directly? We must do it even on holidays" - the Minister said and noted that in two months the weather in the North will enter the rainy season, which is not easy for construction work; we must increase human resources to mobilize materials and fuel, we must calculate in advance where the columns are, where the porcelain is, where the wires are... we must be proactive from early on.

It is necessary to continue to speed up the progress of contractor selection for the remaining packages to ensure transparency, compliance with the law, strictly implement the direction of Deputy Prime Minister Bui Thanh Son regarding contractor selection, and report to the Deputy Prime Minister and the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the implementation results.

“If there is any problem, report it to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister has given instructions. The Ministries will handle it based on their authority. But they must report to the Prime Minister so that he can give instructions,” the Minister requested the units.

The Minister stated that it is not just a simple construction project, but also needs protection, support and assistance from people in the project area and along the power line after it is put into operation.

The Minister also agreed with the recommendations of localities, investors, and contractors to pay close attention to environmental protection. How to minimize the environmental impact on people's living conditions, and restore the land and construction works, the surrounding areas must improve.

The 500kV Lao Cai – Vinh Yen transmission line project has a total investment of about 7,411 billion VND, with a length of about 229.5km passing through the four provinces of Vinh Phuc, Phu Tho, Lao Cai, and Yen Bai. The project's goal is to ensure the transmission of electricity purchased from China, relieve the capacity of hydropower plants in the Northwest region, and contribute to ensuring national energy security, especially in the context of the economy growing at double-digit rates in the following years.

Reporter team

Source: https://congthuong.vn/bo-truong-nguyen-hong-dien-chi-dao-nhung-viec-can-lam-ngay-cua-du-an-duong-day-500kv-lao-cai-vinh-yen-380367.html