Finns Support Improments of Flood Prevention and Power Supply

With the support of funds from the Finnish Concessional Credit Programme the city of Hai Phong is not as vulnerable to early flooding as it used to be. Similarly the towns of Da Nang, Hue, Qui Nhon and Buon Ma Thuo in central Vietnam have benefited from the Concessional Credit Programme in the form of reduced power cuts and improved electricity supply.

Representatives from the Finnish Embassy visited both of these two newly completed projects to monitor results of the projects and meet local representatives. Both of the projects have had a positive impact on the lives of local people.

The Hai Phong Storm Water Pumping Stations Project helped to construct two pumping stations (May Den station and Vinh Niem station) at the end of the  North-East and South-West canal. These pumping stations now pump water from Hai Phong city in case of heavy raining.

The problem of flooding is especially severe in the city if heavy rains are combined with rising sea level. The project completed in 2008, and according to the project manager of the Hai Phong Water Pumping Stations Project the pumping stations have since then helped the city in solving the flooding situation during the rainy season.

The monitoring visit by the representatives of the Finnish Embassy to the two stations confirmed that the stations are in good condition and well-positioned along the drainage canal of the city.

Project Manager Mr. Tero Talonen from ABB explaining the Miniscada components to Ms. Poikonen from the Finnish Embassy
The Finnish Concessional Credit programme has also funded a Miniscada Project in Central Vietnam. This project aims at improving the electricity supply systems in the towns of Da Nang, Hue, Qui Nhon and Buon Ma Thuot.

The Miniscada Project has made it possible to install four MiniSCADA electricity network and control systems, which in turn improve the control of electricity in the area and help provide more reliable electricity supply to citizens.

In the meetings with the management of the local power company, the representatives of the embassy were informed that the power cuts in the area were more frequent and longer in the past, as it took a long time to detect a system failure and to fix it long distances had to be travelled. After the installation of the MiniSCADA system however, faults are easier to detect and in some areas the company can perform all tasks remotely. Consequently the power stations are now able to discover and repair faults faster than before and electricity short-cuts accordingly do not last as long as they used to. A good indicator of positive results it that network power loss in the areas has been reduced gradually from 16% to 6 %.

Part of Finnish aid in Vietnam is channelled through Concessional Credit Programme which covers sectors such as water supply, environment, health care, transportation and energy.  The objective of the concessional credit scheme is to promote economic and social development in Vietnam by making use of the experience and technology possessed by Finnish companies.
The Finnish concessional credits programme in Vietnam started in 1998 and currently the programme has 19 projects in pipeline whilst 9 have already been completed.

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