The Yaly hydro power plant, Vietnam’s second largest after the Hoa Binh hydro plant in Northern Vietnam, was inaugurated in April 2002.

Construction of the 720MW plant began on 4 November 1993 on the Se San river through the Gai Lai and Kon Tum central highlands provinces. It was designed to include four turbines to generate 3.68BkWh on average annually.

With a total investment of US$554M, the plant has been built by Vietnamese companies with technical support from Russian and Ukrainian experts.

The plant’s first turbine was made operational in May 2000 and all of its four turbines generated electricity into the national grid at the end of 2001, according to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

The Yaly plant will produce more than 10% of Vietnam’s annual electricity output and will help boost socio-economic development in the Central Highlands, EVN said.