Development of Vietnam’s 156-MW Song Bung 4 hydropower project have reached a “major milestone” with the closure of the river diversion and start of reservoir impoundment.
Owner’s engineer and technical advisor Mott MacDonald has provided construction supervision, contract management and technical support to owner Electricity Vietnam (EVN) since 2009. The US$250 million project includes a 110-meter-high roller-compacted concrete dam, a 3.2-kilometer-long headrace tunnel, an intake structure and powerhouse.
“Over the last 12 months it has been a race against time to complete the dam before this year’s rainy season, so there is a great sense of achievement to reach this project milestone,” project manager Andrew Kirby said. “The challenges we’ve faced have been met by the development of good, open working relationships between the client, contractors, designer and our site supervision team and a proactive approach to problem solving.”
Song Bung 4 became Vietnam’s first major hydropower project to be funded by the Asian Development Bank when the country was awarded a $196.5 million loan for its construction in October 2008.
“Vietnam is experiencing rising electricity demand of over 15% per year and this project will help to meet increasing power demands, whilst reducing reliance on fossil fuels,” Kirby said.
HydroWorld.com reported that Alstom and its consortium partner, Hydrochina Huadong Engineering Corporation, were awarded a contract by EVN to supply two 78 MW Francis turbine generators and other equipment for the project in 2012.
Mott MacDonald said it expects the plant to be operational by the end of the year.
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