Essential to have instructions on temporarily using forests for the construction of 500kV circuit-3 lines

On March 6, the Government issued Decree 27/2024/ND-CP, which added the content of permission to temporarily use forests for the construction of the national power grid project.

The 500kV circuit-3 line passes through 211 communes and wards across 43 districts and townships in the provinces of Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, Nghe An, Thanh Hoa, Ninh Binh, Nam Dinh, Thai Binh, Hai Duong, and Hung Yen.

One of the projects that benefited early from Decree No. 27 is the 500kV circuit-3 line spanning 519km from Quang Trach (Quang Binh) to Pho Noi (Hung Yen). The project will affect about 10 hectares of forest in the areas of Quynh Luu (Nghe An) -Thanh Hoa and Quang Trach (Quang Binh) - Quynh Luu.

Reporting at the evaluation and review meeting on March 12, the representative of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) said that the policy of changing forest use purposes at column foundation locations has been basically approved by localities.

Currently, the investor continues to coordinate with relevant provincial agencies to implement further procedures, such as paying for planting alternative forests, salvaging forest products, etc.

Regarding the impact on natural forests of temporary roads, temporary works, and temporary yards for gathering supplies and materials for construction, EVN affirms that Decree No. 27 is an important basis for implementing construction at the column foundation locations that could not be built previously because of being located in the forest.

The Quang Trach-Pho Noi 500kV circuit-3 line project includes four component projects: Quang Trach - Quynh Luu, Quynh Luu - Thanh Hoa Thermal Power Plant, Nam Dinh 1 Thermal Power Plant - Thanh Hoa Thermal Power Plant, and Nam Dinh 1 Thermal Power Plant - Pho Noi Thermal Power Plant.

As of now, all four component projects have handed over the sites of the entire 1,177/1,177 column foundation positions, reaching 100%, and 160/502 anchorages, reaching 31.87%. The sites of 342 anchorages have not yet been handed over.

According to the design-construction process, the average time for pile foundation construction is 100 days (more than three months). Therefore, EVN requests localities to actively coordinate to deploy construction of all column foundation positions in March 2024 while avoiding delays in project progress and striving for energization by June 30.

In addition, the line route passing through the provinces of Ha Tinh, Nghe An, and Thanh Hoa has many locations through high and dangerous mountainous terrain. Many locations pass through coastal areas and swamps, which are also difficult for the construction process.

Although the provinces have handed over 100% of column foundation positions, EVN admitted that the work of handing over the route corridor site is difficult to meet the Government's requirement of being completed before March 15 because it has just reached 31.87%.

In particular, Quang Binh, Ha Tinh, and Nghe An provinces have not handed over any anchorages yet. Thanh Hoa province still has 73/137 anchorages not handed over; Nam Dinh province has 24/54 anchorages; Thai Binh province has 11/47 anchorages; and Hai Duong province has 13/31 anchorages.

EVN suggests that the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development continue to monitor and guide the implementation of Decree No. 27, and at the same time guide the handling of problems that arise during the implementation process (if any).

Agreeing with this point of view, Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien requested the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development to proactively guide localities and investors, even when no problems have arisen.

"Decree No. 27 has new content on the temporary use of forests. Therefore, there will certainly be problems arising when implemented in practice. If waiting until problems arise to resolve them, construction time may increase and not ensure overall progress," the head of the Ministry of Industry and Trade emphasized.

Determined to not let any procedure be delayed, Minister Nguyen Hong Dien requested relevant parties to "by any means" carry out the assigned progress on schedule and proactively review work within their functions and authority.

At the same time, the People's Committees of the provinces closely direct departments and branches in the project passing through, coordinate in disseminating and mobilizing people for agreement to complete and hand over the entire site as planned.