HDEC

On March 6th, 2024, the main control building of the 500kV booster station of the 600MW mountain wind power project in Monsoon, Laos successfully completed the structural capping and pouring, marking that the project has entered a new construction stage.

The entire wind farm power of the project is collected from four 115kV booster stations, then crossed the border and connected to the 500kV Thanh My substation of the Vietnam Power Grid EVN on the opposite side through the 500kV transmission line. It is the most complex overseas power transmission and transformation system undertaken by HDEC. The booster station of the project is designed to connect to the current and long-term wind farms with a total capacity of 2GW, and it will become the largest 500kV booster station in Laos. As the core hub of power transmission, multiple difficulties and challenges arose during the design and construction process, such as the adoption of 500kV outdoor GIS design in Laos for the first time, and the need to meet international design specifications and Vietnam's power grid access requirements. During the construction of the project, the team overcame the inconvenience brought by the rainy season and the technical problems caused by the complex terrain and geology of the mountains and ensured the successful construction of the booster station.

At the same time, other work of the project also came to a critical period. Since the official start of the project on March 15, 2023, the pouring of 90/133 wind turbine foundations has been completed, and so have the hoisting of 34/133 wind turbines. Each 115kV booster station and transmission line is at its peak construction period, and the team communicated closely with the owner and financing parties to solve issues concerning biodiversity. The expert group of the Academy of Renewable Energy Engineering Institute went to the site again to provide support for the project team to promote the performance of the contract and solve key and difficult problems. The project team will seize the most important window period before the rainy season this year, vigorously promote civil construction, start electrical installation-related work, and make full preparations for the on-time grid connection next year.

The Monsoon project is located in Sekong and Attapeu provinces in southern Laos. It is not only the first wind power project in Laos, but also the largest wind power project undertaken by PowerChina overseas, the first cross-border new energy transmission project in Asia. The successful implementation of the project will not only bring economic benefits to Laos, but also promote the country to take a solid step in the strategic positioning of "Southeast Asian battery". At the same time, the completion of the project will provide Vietnam with clean energy, effectively meeting the electricity needs in the central region, and promoting mutual benefit and win-win results between the two countries.