Son La Hydropower Plant\'s third turbine hooked up to the national grid early yesterday morning.

Vietnam\'s biggest power plant can now generate 30 million kWh a day.

The plant\'s third turbine began generating electricity in a safe and correct fashion, said Nguyen The Chinh, deputy director general of Lilama 10 JSC, an affiliate of the Vietnam Machinery Installation Corporation (Lilama), which built the plant.

According to Electricity of Vietnam, yesterday morning\'s event was of great significance and will help the plant meet a significant proportion of the country\'s energy needs.

The turning on of the turbine came just ahead of National Day on September 2.

Nguyen Dinh Tinh, director of Lilama 10 JSC\'s Son La branch, said workers had been working flat out to ensure the project was completed on time.

The first and second turbines, which came into operation last January and April respectively, have generated a total 3.25 billion kWh of electricity.

Construction of the VND37 trillion (US$1.8 billion) power plant, located in Muong La District, in the northern mountainous province of Son La, started in December 2005.

Its fourth turbine is expected to begin generating electricity in December, while the fifth and sixth should be operational by the end of next year.

Each turbine has a nameplate capacity of 400MW. When fully operational, the 2,400MW plant will be able to supply 10.2 billion kWh of electricity a year.