March 23, 2002

Ten major domestic corporations to take part in new projects for the construction of three key hydroelectric power plants in Vietnam’s Central Highlands.

Hanoi — Ten major domestic corporations have given the nod to take part in new projects that involves the construction of three key hydroelectric power plants in the country’s Central Highlands, according to the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

These ten corporations are among the leading business enterprises in the construction, mechanical engineering, and machine assembly sectors, and include such companies as the Song Da Construction Corporation, the Import-Export Construction Corporation (Vinaconex), the Machine Assembly and Construction Company-4 of the Machinery Installation Corporation (Lilama), and the Corporation for Infrastructure Construction and Development (Licogi).

Apart from the supply of technical equipment and machinery, Lilama and Company-4 have agreed to contribute 900bn Vietnamese dong and 1,000bn Vietnamese dong, respectively, to these power construction projects, while Licogi and Vinaconex will be mainly involved in construction work, an EVN official said.

The Kanak-An Khe power project will be built on the Ba river in an area between Gia Lai and Binh Dinh Provinces; the Serepok-3 project on the Serepok River, about 16 km from Dray Linh Dam in the river basin; and the Sesan project on the Sesan river at Yagrai of Gia Lai and Sa Thay of Kon Tum, the official said.

These power plants, which are designed to produce more than 2. 657bn kW per hour, will become operational in the 2008-2010 period, according to the EVN.

The three power construction projects are estimated to cost about 8,543bn Vietnamese dong (roughly 570m US dollars), the EVN said.