According to the plant’s management board, a 1,000-tonne rotor was installed in turbine 2 at Son La on January 16.
The rotor, 15.9 metres in diameter and 2.8 metres in height, is the heaviest of its kind in the country.
The installment is expected to facilitate the timely commencement of the turbine’s operations, scheduled for April 2011.
Turbine 1, which started operations on December 17, has generated nearly 300 million kWh.
The six-turbine plant, located in the northern provinces of Son La, Lai Chau and Dien Bien, is also the biggest of its kind in the Southeast Asia.
The plant is expected to generate up to 10.2 billion kWh of power a year once it is fully operational in 2012.
By the end of 2010, total investment in the plant had increased 58.06% to VND58.483 trillion (nearly USD2.92 billion), surpassing the initial estimate of between VND31 trillion (USD1.55 billion) and VND37 trillion (USD1.85 billion) in 2002.