Con Dao is ready to receive the national grid on the occasion of National Day September 2nd

Construction of the 110/22kV Con Dao Transformer Station is more than 99% complete.

In just a few days, electricity from the national grid will travel more than 100 km across the sea, reaching the shores of Con Dao, bringing with it the hope of strong and sustainable development for this island rich in tourism , history and ecology potential.

According to Mr. Tran Ngoc Dung, Deputy Director of the Executive Board of the National Grid Power Supply Project for Con Dao Special Zone, the project implementation process has gone through many challenges. “The power supply line is more than 104 km long, with all kinds of forms: overhead lines on land, at sea, then submarine cables and submarine cables on land. The most difficult part is the overhead line crossing the sea and pulling the submarine cables to the island - all depend on weather conditions and wind and waves. If the sea is rough, it must be stopped immediately.”

Despite the harsh weather, especially the monsoon season at the end of the year - the start date of construction in late 2024, the entire construction force had to "take advantage of every hour" when the sea was calm, increase human resources, equipment, and work continuously to keep up with the progress directed by the Government .

GIS - an electrical isolation switchgear set, including circuit breakers, disconnectors, reactors, and control cabinets - for the protection, measurement, and switching of electrical power

Meaningful project with special purpose

The project to supply electricity from the national grid to Con Dao district (in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province, now Con Dao Special Zone, Ho Chi Minh City) has a total investment of up to 4,923 billion VND, of which more than 2,500 billion VND is support capital from the central budget, the rest is the equity capital of EVN (Vietnam Electricity Group) - the investor, through the Electricity Project Management Board 3 (EVNPMB3) as representative.

The project scale includes expanding a 110kV bay at Vinh Chau 220kV Station, pulling 77.7 km of submarine cable, nearly 18 km of overhead line from the mainland to the transition point, adding 8.5 km of underground cable on the island, and especially building a new 110kV GIS Con Dao Substation, with a scale of 2x63MVA.

Main screen for management and control at the Substation

Sharing from the scene, Mr. Tran Ngoc Vinh, representative of Tam Thanh Phat Joint Venture - the contractor of the 110/22kV transformer station in Con Dao, said that the project was ready: "As of August 26, the construction work was more than 99% complete, only cleaning and gate installation are left to complete. Despite many difficulties with the weather, the team worked overtime, day and night to meet the schedule of powering on September 2."

Con Dao has long suffered from a lack of grid electricity. According to Mr. Nguyen Chi Thuy, Head of the EVN Con Dao Management Team, before 2023, electricity was only enough for basic living and still had to be cut off in rotation during peak season: “We only have An Hoi Power Plant with diesel generators with a maximum capacity of 12 MW, while the current demand has reached 30 MW. Large customers such as hotels, restaurants, and accommodation establishments have to equip their own generators, which is costly and unstable.”

In particular, because the electricity price charged to customers is the same as on the mainland while the production cost from diesel is too high, EVN has had to compensate for huge losses: 210 billion VND in 2023, and an estimated 230 billion VND in 2024. “The higher the oil price, the greater the loss. When there is grid power, this compensation will decrease sharply. The An Hoi plant will switch to a backup role, operating only when necessary,” Mr. Thuy added.

The submarine cable is about 77.7 km long.

Not only stopping at having electricity, EVN has also prepared infrastructure to “receive” national electricity. The system of transformer stations and low-voltage lines has been upgraded since early 2024 to ensure a load capacity 2-2.5 times higher than the current, up to over 20 MW.

Looking to the future, EVN Con Dao has planned to invest up to 600 billion VND from now until 2030, to bury the entire power system underground, ensuring aesthetics and safety, while meeting the requirements of a high-end tourist destination. Notably, in the last 6 months of 2025, Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation will deploy a smart grid system (SCADA) in Con Dao - allowing remote control, continuous power supply, improving stability and modernizing operations.

Underground cable line running on land and climbing mountains in Con Dao, about 8.5 km

Con Dao - a new bright spot of the national power system

Bringing the national grid to Con Dao is not only of technical significance - with the construction of one of the longest submarine cables in Vietnam - but also of strategic significance for energy, economic and social security.

When no longer dependent on diesel, Con Dao will have enough electricity to develop tourism, services, attract investment and improve the quality of life for local residents. It is expected that after electricity is available, many large projects will be implemented simultaneously.

The event of connecting to the national grid on the occasion of National Day, September 2nd, will be a historical milestone for the people of Con Dao - a place that used to be a "hell on earth" in the past, but is now rising strongly with a new position.

From a remote place to a connecting point - Con Dao once again affirms its role as not only a part of the country geographically, but also a center in the strategy of socio-economic development, national defense and protection of the sovereignty of the sea and islands of the Fatherland. Electricity is ready. Con Dao is ready. And the future has begun to shine from today.

Source: https://baodautu.vn/con-dao-san-sang-don-luoi-dien-quoc-gia-dung-dip-quoc-khanh-29-d372160.html