Untangling the Long Thanh 500kV substation project

​(CTT-Đong Nai) – The Long Thanh 500kV Substation and its power lines are a project aiming to provide power for Long Thanh airport, the surrounding industrial parks and residential areas. The substation was completed in 2021, but the lines are still unfinished due to land clearance.

Mr. Vo Tan Duc, Vice-chairman of the Provincial People's Committee, speaking at the Long Thanh 500kV Substation project meeting. 

The substation is completed

This substation and its power lines are a necessary project in order to provide power for the airport, surrounding industrial parks and residential areas; reducing the load on the power grid of Dong Nai and neighboring regions. The substation was planned to power on by September 2022, but at the moment, the road leads to the substation and its power lines are still unfinished.

Mr. Truong Huu Thanh, Director of the Southern Electricity Project Management Board, said the substation's construction finished in 2021, but the 220kV power lines has not completed its land clearance. “We wanted to power on the substation, but the 220kV power lines are still unfinished as we could not install poles and lines due to land clearance issue.  

Specifically, there are still 18 out of 56 pillar foundations, and 137 out of 248 households waiting for indemnity approvals. The investor petitioned the district to prioritize create and approve an indemnity plan for the pillar foundations construction, then the indemnity plan for the power lines. This issue also affected the progress and the effectiveness of the project's investment, as well as the ability to provide power to the area, especially the airport.
Speaking on this matter, Mr. Tran Van Than, Vice Chairman of Long Thanh district' People's Committee, said this project affected nearly 250 cases, including religious locations. At the moment, the local administration had conducted accounting, drafting, and approving indemnity plans and finished handing over 38 pillar locations. The remaining locations are still waiting for further planning.
Furthermore, Mr. Than also said that the local administration has been very supportive, meeting each household, each organization to encourage them to hand over the lands needed for the project. But when the residents accepted the compensation price, or when the plan was green-lit, the investor could not transfer the money on time.  

This 500kV substation and the power lines have the total investment of over 1,2 trillion VNĐ, and was planned to be active in September 2022. However, the road lead to the substation, as well as the power lines and pillar foundations are yet to be finished.

“According to regulations, the affected households by the power grid are compensated at most 70%. The district had appealed to the people many times, as well as approved the 90 billion VNĐ indemnity plan since September 2022; but the investor had just transferred 15 billion VNĐ, leaving many residents still have not received the amount of money they were promised", said Mr. Than. This led many residents to voice their dissents.

A glimpse of the Long Thanh substation

Prioritizing infrastructure
At the moment, not only this project, but many different high voltage electricity projects in the province are also behind their schedules. It is believed that this is due to the power lines run through multiple areas, and different land positions, all of which cause the survey and assessment process to take a lot of time. The electric power industry only conducts land handover and compensates the land that used to build substations and electric poles; and offers a maximum 70% compensation rate. This causes many residents to disagree, forcing the local administration to propagate and appeal to the local population.

For a while now, the province’s power grid has been getting more and more overwhelmed. In the Long Thanh – Nhon Trach area, there are plans to build a variety of key projects, including an airport, a harbor, a new industrial park and expand the existing one. Therefore, by investing in new electric power projects and making sure they follow schedules will prevent investors from overspending, making the most out of each project, and allowing the region to have more electricity to use in social and economic development.

In respect of this project, Mr. Vo Tan Duc, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People’s Committee, suggested the Long Thanh district’s People’s Committee held a meeting with the Southern Electricity Project Management Board to discuss about the locations, prioritized cases during compensation process, additional land assessment, drafting and submitting for approval of the remaining cases in 3^rd quarter of 2023 in order to complete the land handover process to the investor.

To the investor, they need to work in tandem with Long Thanh district’s administration, departments, and offices in indemnity and untangle any issue arises; as well as they are obligated to transfer the compensation money to the local administration in order to pay the affected residents; and finally they have to finish the project before 2024 in order to provide power for the area, especially the Long Thanh airport.

The power source and the grid infrastructure has to be “overflown” to be able to push other projects and attract potential investors. Every local department and office need to be more aggressive at the land handover process; also the investor need to cooperates and be responsible with the local administration during the completion of the project. ​