Nghe An strives to have 43 more villages and hamlets using the national grid by 2020.

Continuing the monitoring program on the implementation of policies and laws on management and use of foreign loans in the period 2010-2016 in the province, on the afternoon of March 21, the Monitoring Delegation of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation led by Mr. Nguyen Thanh Hien - Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation had a working session with the Department of Industry and Trade.

Deputy Head of the Provincial National Assembly Delegation Nguyen Thanh Hien spoke at the meeting. Photo: Thanh Le

In the period 2011-2016, the Department of Industry and Trade was assigned by the Provincial People's Committee to implement the Rural Energy II Project (RE II expansion) in Nghe An province with capital borrowed from the World Bank (WB).

The RE II expansion project in Nghe An province was implemented in nearly 46 communes in 10 districts, towns and communes in the province. The rural electricity network in these communes had been seriously degraded before the investment, with a huge loss of over 30% of electricity. The power lines were mainly invested in by agricultural cooperatives in the 70s and 80s of the last century.

The project has a total investment of 10.5 million USD from a loan from the World Bank. Because it is suitable for the common interest and has the support of the people, the project has been implemented quite smoothly, without any problems with site clearance, leading to the construction time being on schedule and without cost overruns.

The entire project involves the deployment of approximately 1,050 km of low-voltage lines without compensation for site clearance, saving the province's counterpart budget (accounting for 7.4% of the total project implementation value). The project has been completed, handed over to the electricity company and put into use.

Mr. Hoang Van Tam - Director of the Department of Industry and Trade proposed to add 43 disadvantaged villages and hamlets to the rural electricity supply project of Nghe An province in the period of 2013-2020. Photo by Thanh Le

Currently, the assets formed after the project have been handed over to Nghe An Power Company for management and operation. Every year, Nghe An Power Company is responsible for representing the Electricity industry to deduct depreciation and transfer it to the Department of Finance to repay the WB debt in accordance with the agreement and the State's re-lending credit contract.

Mr. Hoang Van Tam - Director of Nghe An Department of Industry and Trade affirmed that after the project was invested and put into operation, it has been very effective. The amount of electricity loss has decreased from 30% to about 7-8%, in some places even 4%; people can use high-quality electricity, overcoming overload.

According to Mr. Tam, in order to implement the target program of supplying electricity to rural mountainous areas and islands according to Resolution No. 73/NQ-CP dated June 28, 2016 of the Government, striving to build a power supply system from the national grid for villages and hamlets without electricity and power sources outside the national grid for villages and hamlets with special difficulties by 2020, the Department of Industry and Trade has reviewed 46 villages and hamlets and 1 island (of which 43 villages and hamlets proposed to use the national grid; 3 villages and 1 island proposed to use other energy).

"I propose that the Provincial National Assembly Delegation and all levels and sectors propose to EVN, the Northern Power Corporation, and Nghe An Power Company to add the above 43 villages and hamlets to the rural electricity supply project of Nghe An province in the period 2013-2020" - Mr. Tam said.

Working scene. Photo by Thanh Le

On behalf of the monitoring delegation, Deputy Head of the Provincial Delegation of National Assembly Deputies Nguyen Thanh Hien acknowledged that during the implementation of the RE II Expansion Project, the Department of Industry and Trade fully implemented the documents, decrees of the Government, the province and the agreement with the WB. The project was completed on schedule, disbursed and settled, bringing good results to the people.

The monitoring delegation requested the Department of Industry and Trade to archive and manage project records well; have a mechanism for managing, maintaining, and promoting the effectiveness of the works; at the same time, coordinate with relevant levels and sectors to continue accessing capital sources to invest in and upgrade the power grid infrastructure; improve the quality of electricity serving production and daily life of the people; strengthen the management of planning for the development of the hydropower system in the province...