Using internal resources to overcome difficulties, Son Vu Energy Joint Stock Company has expanded its hydropower investment not only in Lao Cai province but also around the country. Son Vu is working with the business community to create a newer, richer and nicer face of Lao Cai.

Lao Cai lies on the heads of the Thao and Chay rivers. With its steep mountainous terrain, the province has rich potential for hydropower development. Son Vu Energy Joint Stock Company is a pioneer company to invest and build hydropower plants in the province of Lao Cai. Seeing the potential of Lao Cai, Son Vu has soon concentrated its resources to expand its hydropower investment projects not only in Lao Cai province but also to other places in the country.

Investment for small and medium hydropower facilities is essential as they not only meet local energy demand, increase overall power supply of the country and create many new jobs for local people but also creases tax incomes for the state Budget, raise knowledge of local people, upgrade traffic routes and create landscapes promote tourism development and other economic activities. Remarkably, small hydropower projects also give a helping hand to the government-backed new countryside programme.

But, hydropower investment is not simple at all because it requires a big investment value, a very long payback period, far-lying rugged distance, hard access to traffic routes, and long transmission lines. Besides, hydropower investment is also affected by many other factors like recession-caused inflation, credit policies, acts of god, flooding and drought. Common people cannot imagine how hard a hydropower plant construction is unless they witness the process of making impossible possible and turning water flows into electricity.

Growing from the inside
Those difficulties cannot force Son Vu Energy Joint Stock Company to step back. Son Vu continues to affirm its initial target of building more hydropower projects to support local economic development, social stability and employment generation in poor areas.

To deal with problems, Son Vu first of all has to rely on invest support policies and priorities introduced by the provincial government and local authorities. Lao Cai Provincial People’s Committee is asking to the Government of Vietnam and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to reconsider more reasonable electricity purchasing frames to attract investment. The province is guiding the power sector to build and upgrade 220-kV and 110-kV transmission lines to carry electricity from generators and working with the Northern Power Electric Corporation to ask for advance payment for building transmission lines that will be connected with the national grids. It also told departments and local authorities to simplify administrative procedures concerning investment licensing and support investors to deal with site clearance activities. The provincial government always tries its best to support investors in general and hydropower companies in particular to deal with difficulties to quickly bring their projects into operation.

The right development strategy from the start is the key to the overall success of Son Vu. The company sets stores by human resource development. This is a decisive factor to the success of projects Son Vu are involved General Director Nguyen Van Ngoc of Son Vu Energy Joint Stock Company said: “We greatly value human elements. We base on qualifications, expertise, interests and passions of employees to assign them with best jobs. We always help our employees to raise their professional skills, organise regular training courses on operational and technical management for technicians and operators. In recent years, the company has spent more than VND3 billion for personnel training, including overseas studies.

The 32-MW Muong Hum hydropower project, invested approximately VND1,000 billion by Son Vu, went into operation in 2011. This facility covers three communes of Ban Xeo, Muong Hum and Den Thang in Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province. The project lies on the Muong Hum stream, a branch of Ngoi Phat River which is the first-grade branch of the Red River. The plant annually contributes 121.86 KM.h of electricity to the national grid.

After the successful Muong Hum hydropower project, Son Vu has participated in many other hydropower projects in Lao Cai province and across the country. Especially, Son Vu is partnering with Kyushu Electric Power Company of Japan to study large-scale hydropower investment projects in Ngoi Phat River in Lao Cai province and in Que Phong district, Nghe An province. These projects will be applied advanced technologies in the world to increase investment efficiency as well as ensure sustainable development of the surrounding environment. This strategic partnership is believed to make stable and groundbreaking development for Son Vu.
To develop hydropower projects in Lao Cai, Son Vu frankly asked provincial authorities to “Set up an energy committee affiliated to the Provincial People’s Committee because Lao Cai province has a huge potential for hydropower development. This is a contact address for hydropower businesses in particular and energy companies in general to ask about hydropower investment, land supply, quality control, inspection, supervision, operational monitoring process, etc. The province should also expeditiously coordinate with EVN to accelerate the construction of 220 Bao Thang transformer station to transmit all electricity transmitted by hydropower plants in the province “.