At the same time, he stressed that safety and quality must be ensured in construction and operation management, asking the Ministry of Industry and Trade to carry out periodical inspections at the site and penalize those who fail to make a deadline. The Deputy PM noted that the southern region is facing power shortage and receiving electricity supply from the northern and central region. Therefore, it is crucial to build more electricity generation facilities and upgrade transmission systems, he said. The plan for the southwest region is to build 16 electricity projects and buy electricity from other countries between now and 2030, but two major projects – the Song Hau centre and Long Phu 1 thermal power plant – are lagging behind schedule.
Deputy PM Dung also urged implementation of solar and wind power projects. Secretary of the provincial Party Committee Tran Cong Chanh proposed that the Deputy PM and relevant State agencies help clear difficulties for the Song Hau 1 thermal power plant to soon be operational. Price negotiations for the Song Hau 2 thermal power plant should also be conducted early in order to start the project as schedule, Chanh said, adding that the Government should consider including the Song Hau 3 thermal power plant in the national planning. According to the management board of the Song Hau power centre, the project is 12 months behind schedule, due to slowness at the design stage. The same day, Deputy PM Dung also made a field trip to the construction site of the Long Phu 1 Thermal Power Plant in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang.
