📋 Tender Overview
Since the Savan 1 wind power plant officially achieved commercial operation (COD) on December 26, 2025, electricity has been generated from the Savannakhet wind plateau (Laos), following a separate 220 kV transmission line, crossing the border and joining the Vietnamese power system in Lao Bao. Up to now, the plant has operated stably, bringing 0.9 billion kWh per year to the national grid system - a result achieved in a record time for a cross-border wind power project. Download Savan 1 shows the ability to realize a model in which private enterprises not only invest in generation sources, but also proactively solve the problem of transmission and commercial operation. The 3 no problem and the promise of not backing down. Savan 1 is considered one of the typical projects for the model of private enterprises investing in renewable power sources abroad and proactively building their own transmission infrastructure to bring electricity to serve the domestic system. This approach helps control output, avoiding the bottleneck of no electricity generated after construction - a problem that has appeared in many energy projects. Back in the first phase, on January 9, 2025, the Lao Ministry of Planning and Investment officially awarded the concession contract to Savan 1 Wind Power Company Limited - a member of T&T Group. The contract has a term of 25 years, project scale is 495 MW, total investment is about 768 million USD. Immediately upon signing, the project established three key pillars: There is a power purchase contract with EVN, there is a capital arrangement plan, and there is a policy of investing in a separate 220kV transmission line to bring electricity to Vietnam. Download Right from the first days of project implementation, T&T Group has determined that the goal is to complete phase 1 and operate commercially in 2025. T&T Group also set a big ambition: Complete phase 1 of the project, with an expected capacity of 300 MW in December 2025. This is a rare progress for wind power projects of the same type, especially in the context that previous electricity export projects from Laos to Vietnam required many years of implementation, mainly because they depended on the progress of the transmission grid and intergovernmental procedures. From Vietnam, a special working group was established with 5 key members. The teams mission is to go to the field to survey, make detailed plans, and prepare the first steps for the dream of bringing wind power from Laos to the country. Mr. Nguyen Quoc Hanh, Deputy Head of the Construction Department in charge of mechanical and electrical work, still cannot forget those first days. After more than 2 hours of driving from Lao Bao border gate, the future construction site appeared before our eyes with 3 nos: No infrastructure, no electricity, no water, no utilities, besides harsh weather and difficulties in bringing in equipment. If you want to do wind power, you have to be able to bring in the equipment. But even getting to the location where the turbine will be placed is very difficult, Mr. Hanh recalled. Download thorny roads at Savannakhet construction site. According to design, the factory location is located in Phin district, Savannakhet province. This is an area about 100 km southwest of Lao Bao border gate. When the special working group was present, route 9E only extended to Keng Huapa town. To continue to the construction site, the group was forced to travel along trails more than 50 km long with the width of just one vehicle body. Every day, the brothers woke up early, prepared food to move to the survey location. At the Nabo intersection, cars could not continue. They all put on their harnesses and backpacks and walked nearly 30 km through the forest trails, Mr. Hanh shared. No place to live, no phone signal, no water. clean, there are no roads - all early stage surveys are conducted using pure human power. It was so difficult that in the first week, some people left to return to Vietnam. Three months later, the second member of the advance team also left because he couldnt stand it. But, Nguyen Quoc Hanh and two others still decided to stay, with faith in the choice ahead... Download Crossing the Se Pon River to enter the flood season construction site. Without a road, large machinery, supplies and equipment will not be able to enter the deep forest. The problem that must be posed now is to open the entrance to the construction site. To meet the schedule, T&T Group required the contractor to quickly expand the existing trail; At the same time, plan to build new arterial routes. Also participating from the early days, Mr. Tong Van Binh, Deputy Director of Savan 1 Factory recalled: With high determination, after only a short time, 27.7 km of road approaching the project was formed, which can allow super-long vehicles to move. In addition, there are more than 45 km of internal roads for construction and installation. There is a road, but another artery is still clogged. The section of the Sepon River that flows through Laos causes big floods every time the rainy season comes. Temporary bridges and spillways cannot withstand the force of weather. If heavy rain lasts for a long time, the bridge can be washed away, leading to the risk of delay in bringing equipment to the construction site. Previously, transportation had to use homemade ferries (motorized boats), which were very dangerous and often interrupted. A project with a life cycle of at least 25 years needed larger and more distant infrastructure and vision. Faced with that reality, in March 2025, T&T Group decided toplans to build a solid bridge to replace the dilapidated spillway. With a design of more than 80 m long and 6 m wide, the Tangatay bridge is strong enough to bear the load of large transport convoys into Savan 1. This is also considered a key point to accelerate the progress of the entire project in the following months. Download Despite the difficulties, the officials and employee
