This is an important milestone, demonstrating the determination of the staff and workers of Savan 1 Wind Power Company Limited (a member company of T&T Group) and the contractor; thereby continuing to realize T&T Group's "cross-border" energy investment strategy, contributing to increasing the national electricity supply, while promoting the strong economic cooperation between Vietnam and Laos.

Overcoming the sun and rain to complete the special transmission line

Previously, on January 9, 2025, within the framework of the Vietnam - Laos Investment Cooperation Conference, witnessed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh and Lao Prime Minister Sonexay Siphandone, the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment , on behalf of the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic, awarded the concession contract for the Savan 1 wind power project to Savan 1 Wind Power Company Limited (a member unit of T&T Group).

Under the contract, the Government of the Lao People's Democratic Republic agreed to allow Savan 1 Wind Power Company Limited to design, construct, own and operate the Savan 1 wind power project with a contract term of up to 25 years to export and sell electricity to Vietnam. The project is deployed in Savannakhet province with a total installed capacity of up to 495 MW, a total investment of about 768 million USD. According to the plan, phase 1 of the project has an installed capacity of 300 MW, a total investment of more than 490 million USD and will be put into commercial operation by the end of 2025.

At this time, the most important task is to soon build a 220kV transmission line connecting the Savan 1 wind power plant with the waiting tower in Vietnam. This is considered the key "bloodline" to bring clean electricity from the Land of a Million Elephants to the Fatherland according to the set plan.

Mr. Nguyen Thai Ha, General Director of Savan 1 Wind Power Company Limited, said that in terms of scale, the transmission line has a total length of 52.56 km, running through the territory of Laos. The starting point of the line is located at G7, next to the border of the two countries. The end point connects to the 220kV transformer station of Savan 1 Wind Power Plant.

“The entire line includes 117 pole positions and 30 anchorages. The poles are designed as galvanized steel towers connected by bolts; the reinforced concrete foundations are cast in place,” added the General Director of Savan 1 Wind Power Company.

Aware of the importance of this special “bloodline”, right from the beginning, the leaders of T&T Group requested Savan 1 Wind Power Company and General Contractor IPC E&C to coordinate closely and urgently carry out the first tasks. In fact, just 1 day after the Concession Contract was signed, hundreds of officers and workers began the process of clearing, cleaning the site, and making access roads to the key positions in the design.

Recalling the early days, General Director Nguyen Thai Ha said: The implementation of the project faced many challenges. First, because the construction was carried out in a neighboring country, all materials and equipment had to be brought from Vietnam. The company and the contractor had to complete many import and export procedures and apply for permits to be able to put human resources and machinery in place. In addition, the complex terrain, passing through many hills, mountains, villages, etc. also made the construction process difficult; not to mention the objective impacts from the weather.

“T&T Group's leaders have directed the Company to create maximum conditions for the General Contractor to quickly access the site, gather supplies, materials, and human resources; and support related procedures so that the contractor can have the best working conditions,” Mr. Ha recalled.

Thanks to this overall effort, exactly 1 month later, on February 10, the foundation system was deployed. By mid-March, nearly 500 cadres and workers had erected poles on the field. The spirit of high determination, overcoming the sun and rain, was continuously maintained on both circuits of the great project; thereby creating a rare miracle in terms of deployment speed. By May 15, that is, only 3 months later, the first meters of wire were pulled up to the high points. Hundreds of people, carrying the dream of connecting the national power line, did not mind the sun or rain to connect the vital transmission line.

Then, on the evening of August 31, joy burst out when the contractor successfully pulled the power line across the legendary Sepon River, the natural border between Vietnam and Laos; completing the connection of the transmission line from Savan 1 to the first pole of the 220kV line on the Vietnamese side. The power transmission line has now "touched the gate" of the motherland, carrying with it the pride of the solidarity and determination to overcome difficulties of the workers, while also containing the aspiration to "reach high and fly far" in the journey of building and developing the country.

“When looking at the cable line stretched across the Se Pon River, the entire construction team was extremely emotional. After more than 200 days of hard work, the ‘line’ connecting the two banks has finally taken shape,” a worker from the General Contractor shared.

Unable to hide her joy, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh, Deputy General Director of T&T Group, Chairman of T&T Energy affirmed that the event is an important milestone in the formation of the entire transmission line connecting Savan 1 wind power plant to the 220kV Lao Bao transformer station, ensuring the plant's on-time energization (COD) before December 31, 2025.

“ This result was achieved thanks to the close direction of the Group's leaders and Savan 1 Wind Power Company Limited. Hundreds of officers and employees of the Company and the General Contractor did not mind the difficulties, hardships, and poor living conditions, working in mountainous border areas, racing against time to complete in the shortest time. The event was even more meaningful as it took place right before the 80th National Day Celebration on September 2nd; thereby affirming the capacity and determination of T&T Group in making competitive achievements, practically celebrating the country's major holidays", emphasized the Deputy General Director of T&T Group.

Continuing to realize T&T Group's cross-border energy strategy

In fact, the completion of the transmission line construction in Laos is a testament to the commitment to “tell the truth, do the truth”; and is also an important step in T&T Group’s “cross-border” energy investment strategy.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Binh, Deputy General Director of T&T Group, the investment in Savan 1 Wind Power Plant and its connection to the national transmission grid is of great significance, contributing to increasing the power supply for the national power system, gradually realizing the cooperation commitment between Vietnam and Laos as well as in line with the electricity import orientation in the National Power Development Plan approved by the Prime Minister in Decision No. 500/QD-TTg dated May 15, 2023. Savan 1 Wind Power Plant is also the largest onshore wind power project that T&T Group has invested in to date.

T&T Group's journey is not only a story of investing in energy, but also a testament to the aspiration of a private enterprise in the process of accompanying the country in developing sustainable energy. T&T Group aims to reach a total power generation capacity of 16,000 - 20,000 MW by 2035, accounting for about 10% of Vietnam's power system capacity, most of which is from clean energy sources such as solar power, wind power, LNG power, biomass power and green hydrogen/ammonia, aiming towards the common goal of bringing Vietnam to net zero emissions by 2050.

Up to now, the group of businessman Do Quang Hien has invested in a total capacity of 2,800 MW; of which 10 wind and solar power plants have been completed and put into operation in many provinces and cities across the country, with a total installed capacity and connection to the national grid reaching nearly 1,000 MW.

In addition, T&T Group is also in a joint venture with KOGAS, KOSPO, HANWHA (Korea) to implement the Hai Lang LNG power project Phase 1 with a capacity of 1,500 MW, investment capital of about 2.5 billion USD, expected to operate in 2029. Not stopping there, T&T Group is continuing to develop and invest in many renewable energy projects, low carbon emission projects. Typically, solar power projects, onshore and offshore wind power, biomass power, LNG power, converting raw materials from coal-fired thermal power plants to LNG, battery energy storage system (BESS) manufacturing plant, researching new types of energy such as hydrogen, ammonia, etc.

The projects aim to supply electricity to the national grid, sell electricity to FDI enterprises under the direct power purchase mechanism DPPA, provide energy storage solutions for renewable energy plants, provide green electricity to produce green hydrogen, many projects have been approved in the Plan to implement the VIII Power Plan and are continuing to be added to the adjusted VIII Power Plan. T&T Group is preparing the necessary conditions to deploy investment in construction and put the projects into operation in the 2026-2030 period.

To implement the projects, Mr. Hien's group has cooperated with many of the world's leading partners in the energy sector such as: Hanwha, Kogas, Kospo, SK E&S (Korea); erex, Marubeni, Sojittz, JPower (Japan); Cospower, Gedi, Goldwind (China), BP, (UK), Vinacom (Laos)... In particular, Standard Charted Bank has committed a 6 billion USD financing package for T&T Group's green energy projects.

Back to the T&T people in Savannakhet. During the historic September days, the staff and workers of Savan 1 Wind Power Company Limited and the General Contractor stood on this side of the Sepon River looking towards the motherland of Vietnam. After many months of eating in the forest and sleeping in the mountains, finally, the vital power line from the neighboring land was successfully connected to the Fatherland. Along the legendary river, everyone was excitedly looking forward to a bright future, where clean electricity from the Land of a Million Elephants will be integrated into the national grid. And Sepon, the natural border between Laos and Vietnam, in a moment turned into a river of light, of faith and hope...