HANOI - SOUTHEAST Asia's largest hydroelectric power station has begun operating to help ease an electricity shortage in fast-growing Vietnam, an official said on Monday.
The first of six turbines at the Son La station was connected to the national power grid on Friday, said Hoang Trong Nam, director of the plant's management board.
He said the two-billion-dollar (S$2.6 billion) plant with a capacity of 2,400 megawatts is expected to be fully operational in 2012, three years ahead of a target set by the National Assembly.
Mr Nam said about 100,000 people - mostly from ethnic minority groups - were relocated to make way for the reservoir, which stretches across the three provinces of Son La, Lai Chau and Dien Bien in northwestern Vietnam.
Initial plans called for an even larger dam but it was scaled down after deputies in the National Assembly raised concerns about the human and environmental costs of the project, including its safety in an earthquake-prone mountainous region.
Construction finally began in December 2005. -- AFP
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