Residents in Co To island district in the northern province of QuangNinh have excitedly reacted to the news that the national power gridwill soon cover the whole island.

The 1.1 trillion VND (51.7million USD) power project, which started at the end of last December,is proceeding rapidly in order to bring light to the island residents byOctober 15, more than ten days ahead of schedule.

Accordingto Nguyen Phuc Vinh, President and CEO of the Northern ElectricityCorporation, the project is the first of its kind in Vietnam with about30 kilometres of cables running on the seabed at a depth of up to 30metres.

Thanks to the effort of engineers and workers, theproject is unprecedented in its quality and speedy implementation, Vinhnoted.

Nguyen Dinh Ly, an engineer of Thai Duong ElectricConstruction Co.Ltd, the project’s constructor, said about 80 percent ofthe work had been done by September 28.

All the elements ofthe project are expected to be completed by October 10, said Phung NgocPhong, Director of the Quang Ninh provincial Electricity Company.

The development, which has been launched to celebrate Quang Ninh’s 50th founding anniversary (October 30) will help raise local livingstandards while boosting economic growth in the island district.

Presently, electrical equipment on Co To island is powered by dieselgenerators and solar panels, which makes prices much higher than thenational average.-VNA