On the morning of August 29, in Hung Yen province, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of the 500kV third circuit transmission line from Quang Trach (Quang Binh) to Pho Noi (Hung Yen).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh attended the inauguration ceremony of the 500kV third circuit transmission line project from Quang Trach (Quang Binh) to Pho Noi (Hung Yen) (Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac).

The event was organized by Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and the National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT) in a hybrid format, with the main location at the 500kV Pho Noi substation in Hung Yen and virtual connections to eight provinces along the project route.

The Quang Trach - Pho Noi 500kV third circuit transmission line is a large-scale project with a total length of 519 km, featuring two circuits and 1,177 tower positions, with a total investment of over 22.3 trillion VND (nearly 1 billion USD).

The project involved excavating over 2.5 million cubic meters of soil and rock, using more than 705,000 cubic meters of concrete and nearly 70,000 tons of foundation steel. The total weight of the steel towers assembled amounted to 139,000 tons, and almost 14,000 kilometers of conductors were pulled.

This project is critical and urgent, playing a key role in enhancing the capacity of the 500kV power transmission system between Central and Northern Vietnam. It will increase transmission capacity from the current 2,500 MW to 5,000 MW.

The project will improve the stability of the national power grid, enhance power supply to the northern region by 2025 and beyond, and reduce the risk of overloading existing 500kV lines and substations. It also contributes significantly to ensuring national energy security.

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh inspected and urged progress on the 500kV third circuit transmission line project from Quang Trach (Quang Binh) to Pho Noi (Hung Yen) as it passed through Quang Binh on June 2 (Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac).

According to EVN and EVNNPT, despite numerous difficulties and challenges during construction, new approaches and methods compared to previous projects helped significantly shorten the project timeline, meeting the completion deadline as directed by the Prime Minister. This marks an unprecedented achievement, as projects of similar scale and complexity have typically taken 3 to 4 years to complete.

For instance, the Pleiku - My Phuoc - Cau Bong 500kV third circuit, which spans 437 kilometers, took nearly three years to construct, while the 740-kilometer-long Vung Ang - Quang Trach - Doc Soi - Pleiku 2 segment of the 500kV third circuit took nearly four years to finish.

In contrast, the Quang Trach - Pho Noi 500kV third circuit was completed in about six months. In terms of scale, the first North-South 500kV line required 60,000 tons of steel towers, while this project required 139,000 tons, more than double the first circuit.

The Prime Minister inspected the construction progress of the 500kV Thanh Hoa substation in Thieu Phuc commune, Thieu Hoa district, on June 22 (Photo: VGP/Nhat Bac).

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has been actively overseeing progress through multiple meetings and on-site inspections, urging leaders from various ministries, sectors, localities, political organizations, EVN, EVNNPT, consulting units, suppliers, and contractors to work with a spirit of "overcoming the sun, conquering the rain, not losing to storms," and to adopt the attitude of "only moving forward, no retreat." Workers were encouraged to "make use of every day, work through the night," with shifts running 24/7, "three shifts, four crews," and "working through holidays, Tet, and weekends."

Thanks to this determination and effort, the project was completed and energized, meeting the deadlines set forth by the Prime Minister.