Loans of US$100M have been proposed for each of the Song Bung 2 and Song Bung 5 projects, which are in early scoping stage and decisions on the funding are a couple of years off. Within months, however, ADB is expected to decide on a US$196.5M loan for the Song Bung 4 project.
The Song Bung 4 project has been developed with an installed design capacity of about 156MW with a 110m high RCC dam of 367m crest length. Following studies commencing in 2005, the scheme is to built over 2007-2011 to impound a stretch of the Song Bung in the mountainous, sparsely populated Vu Gai-Thu Bon river basin in Quang Nam province.
A 3.1km headrace tunnel is to be built to feed the power house before the waters are discharged by tailrace canal to the river, about 5km downstream of the RCC dam. The plant is to be operated as a peak load facility, which could see fluctuations in water level of up to 1.5m near the station.
The total project budget is estimated from feasibility studies at US$254M, an increase on the estimate at the pre-feasibility stage of about US$220M.
The loan proposals for the Song Bung 2 and Song Bung 5 projects, to be built on the same river, are not due for decision by ADB until 2009 and 2010, respectively.
