The Krong Hin power plant - the first privately-owned hydroelectric project to join the Vietnamese national grid - was put into operation recently in the M'Drac district in the Central Highlands province of Dac Lac.
According to the Vietnamese News Agency, the Krong Hin plant has two turbines with the capacity to generate 30MkWh of electricity each year. The plant was designed, and will be run, by retired engineer Nguyen Quyen. The project, which cost US$6.4M to construct, will earn Quyen around US$1M a year from electricity sales to Electricity of Vietnam.
Meanwhile, the Mekong Construction Co Ltd in Vietnam says it plans to invest more than US$12.5M in building two more hydroelectric power plants in the Central Highlands province of Dak Nong. The two plants, Dak Pri and Dak N’Tao, will have a combined generating capacity of more than 15,000kW. They will become operational in 2010 and will supply electricity to the Vietnamese national grid or to several provinces in southern and central Laos.