📋 Tender Overview
Extreme floods and rains in 2024-2025 pose great pressure, requiring upgrading forecasting and reservoir operating capacity. Hydropower and irrigation reservoirs share limited data, there is no unified coordination mechanism by basin. There is a need for an industry-wide database. Mr. Nguyen Tung Phong, Director of the Department of Irrigation Construction and Management (Ministry of Agriculture and Environment) said that the management and safe operation of dams and reservoirs across the country are still facing many challenges and facing completely new requirements. Therefore, the flood control effectiveness of the irrigation reservoir system has not yet met expectations, especially for reservoirs. There are only free overflows, no regulating valves, or reservoirs that proactively lower water levels to welcome floods due to lack of confidence in forecasts. Mr. Phan Tien An, Head of the Dam and Reservoir Safety Department (Department of Irrigation Management and Construction), acknowledged that although large lakes operate safely in the 2025 flood season, the small and medium-sized lake system is still facing many risks. Mr. An said there are currently a series of persistent difficulties, especially in the group of medium and small lakes due to local management. The rate of implementation of mandatory dam safety requirements is still very low: only 30% of lakes have emergency response plans, 9% have been inspected for safety and only 19% have monitoring equipment installed. Many lakes do not have operating procedures or protective landmarks, leading to the risk of unsafety when floods suddenly come. Mr. An assessed that the biggest challenge today is the lack of complete technical data and a synchronous technology system. The Ministrys reservoir database was built in 2016, but only about 900 lakes have complete parameters. Dr. Nguyen Van Manh, Head of the Science and Technology Department (Irrigation Planning Institute), said that the Institute currently maintains important databases including: dam safety data, operating data of nearly 45,000 irrigation works, Vrain automatic rain measurement system (2,600 stations) and national hydrometeorological data. This information serves hydraulic simulation, flood forecasting, and building flood warning maps. However, according to Dr. Manh, forecast quality also depends heavily on rain data and expert experience, while models are gradually outdated compared to the pace of climate change. To overcome this, he proposed building a large database for the entire industry, standardizing project identification. Strengthen data connection with the national hydrometeorological system and weather platforms. AI application analyzes rain and flow data to shorten processing time and reduce forecast errors. Maintain a force of experts on duty 24/7 to verify data and calibrate the model. According to Mr. Manh, only when data is unified and modern technology is applied will flood forecasts really improve. Difficulties in coordinating inter-lake operations Floods in recent years have been happening irregularly, storms appear frequently. Flood drainage space is narrowed due to rapid urbanization and drainage infrastructure has not kept up. Coordination of inter-reservoir operations is still a big blind spot. Mr. Phan Tien An said that it is necessary to strongly promote digital transformation and technology application in the entire reservoir management chain. First of all, it is necessary to improve institutions, amend legal regulations, and promulgate common standards for databases, monitoring, and operating software. Industry databases must be standardized and operated according to the principle of shared use, allowing localities to use their own software but requiring connection via standard API. At the same time, it is necessary to invest or hire modern monitoring services, build an automatic warning system, and improve staff capacity in data analysis and operating new technology. The addition of economic and technical norms for investment in IoT, monitoring software, AI and cloud computing will create a basis for localities to make estimates and deploy more consistently. Mr. An affirmed that when data is standardized, a full monitoring system and decision support technology are widely applied, reservoir operations will be safer, more timely and meet the requirements of an increasingly harsh climate change period. Prof. Dr. Nguyen Quoc Dung, Permanent Vice Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Large Dams and Water Resources Development, assessed that Vietnam has paid attention to building the Operational Support System (DSS) and in fact, this tool effectively supports the operation of reservoirs, inter-reservoirs and natural disaster prevention. But with increasing requirements for dam safety, downstream safety and optimal water exploitation in the context of climate extremes, Vietnam needs a smarter, more modern operating support system capable of meeting new challenges of water resources management.Do HuongSee moreSee moreSee moreSee more
