There will be no power cuts during the peak dry season next month, according to
the Industry and Trade Ministry’s Electricity Regulatory Authority of Viet Nam (ERAV).

Workers from the National Power Transmission Corporation install new power lines and a 500kV transformer in northern Bac Giang Province. The facility will help avoid overloading of the national grid and resultant power cuts during this year’s dry season. (Photo: VNS)

According to ERAV
statistics, in the first five months of this year, the total power produced and
imported into Viet Nam was more than 43 billion kWh, 10 per cent higher than
that of the same period last year.

This was enough to
basically meet the demand which was less than initially estimated. Heavy
rainfall in the middle of this month also helped to fill reservoirs at
hydro-power plants.

ERAV said that the
early operation of the Son La hydro plant’s second turbine and effective energy
saving measures had contributed to the stable supply.

These favourable
conditions were likely to continue into next month, ERAV announced last weekend.

Heavier rainfall than
expected is forecast for the north which should help ensure hydro power plants
remain operational.

New hydro-electric
plants are expected to add about 428 MW to the national grid, while thermal coal
power plants in the north will be put back into operation after maintenance
work. The country will also continue to import electricity from China.

Deputy Minister Hoang
Quoc Vuong said that the ministry was overseeing operations to ensure
Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) maintained a constant supply.

To meet power demands,
coal, oil or natural gases would be mobilised if necessary, he said.

Vuong said that the
power supply in the first five months of this year had met the vast majority of
the demands of daily life and production, after the ministry asked EVN to
minimise power cuts across the country in April.

Nguyen Thuy Chi, a
Hanoian resident, said that it was really good news because regular power cuts
last year had caused chaos at home.

“My children couldn’t
sleep and the heat made them ill. I had to take them to stay at a friend’s house
or in a hotel where there was power,” she said, adding that solution would not
be possible this year because of price hikes.

Many enterprises also
complained that power cuts, especially sudden ones, had disrupted operations.
Responding to their complaints, EVN Ha Noi Vice Director General Nguyen Anh Tuan
said that this year, EVN had issued a schedule outlining when power would be
reduced or cut so that enterprises would be prepared.

“If power cuts are
necessary, we should guarantee a line of communication between power companies
and businesses,” he said.

VietNamNet/Viet
Nam News