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dam-l LS: Commissioning of Yali Falls Project
From: Ted Chapman<Ted.Chapman@anu.edu.au>
About: Commissioning of Yali Falls Project
AMRN Item 15/2000
31 March, 2000
COMPLETION OF THE YALI FALLS PROJECT: VIETNAMESE REPORTS
Two reports from Hanoi, both dated 28 March and reliant on government
sources , provide substantial information about the size, significance
and employment implications for Vietnam of the Yali Falls hydropower
project, recently completed. Neither report mentions the Se San River,
or the recent cross-border flooding in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia.
The two reports have been copied to the AMRN by Vern Weitzel who
manages our affiliated VNNEWS List, drawing in turn on his affiliate
Stephen R.Denney who is 'list owner' of the University of California
Link at Berkeley. The first report, quoted in full below, is from
Deutsche Presse-Agentur; the second, from BBC Worldwide Monitoring, is
sourced to a Vietnamese language report on 'Voice of Vietnam' on 27
March. The reports are similar on all main points.
Headline : "Vietnam cranks up second largest hydro plant in test run"
Dateline: Hanoi. Circulated 28 March ( 05.15 Central European Time),
Deutsche Presse-Agentur.
"In a move that is expected to appease Vietnam's growing energy needs,
the first trial run of the country's second largest hydroelectric
power plant went off without a hitch, officials said on Tuesday (?, 28
March). All systems were up to scratch as the Yaly Hydropower Plant
inaugurated the first of four turbine groups in a trial run late
Monday, before the plant hooks up to the national power grid in late
April, project officials said. The Russian-Ukrainian assisted
facility will have a combined capacity of 720 megawatts when finished,
producing 3.68 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity, project Deputy
CEO Mr Huynh No said.
Construction began in 1993 on the Yaly plant, located in the rugged
Central Highlands region 450 km north of Ho Chi Minh City, and is
expected to carry a final price tag of 626 million dollars when it is
completed in 2001.
'So far everything has been okay, but we are apparently behind
schedule,' Mr No said in a brief telephone interview. 'The first
turbine should have gone on line late last year, but the project
encountered snags', Mr No said, without elaborating. The second
turbine group is slated for operation by year end. Mr No admitted
(that) the project expects to encounter major unemployment problems
when it lays off as many as 10,000 workers by the time the project
reaches its conclusion.
Vietnam is dependent on hydrelectric power for 80 per cent of its
electricity and is subject to regular power cuts during the dry
season, with officials routinely encouraging urban centres such as Ho
Chi Minh City and Hanoi to cut their private consumption.
The country's premier power supplier, the Hoa Binh Hydroelectric dam
outside Hanoi, in the north, supplies one quarter of the country's
total electric supply. The first of the Soviet-built dam's eight
turbines began operation in 1988, and the massive stricture was
completed with great fanfare in 1994. Tens of thousands of workers
were laid off from that project however, creating a near-crisis in
regional labour markets until the state hired many of them for the
Yaly project, Mr No said. dpa mm js"
from Vietnam News List: vnnews-l.
http://coombs.anu.edu.au/~vern/vnnews-list.html
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