Diversify sources to ensure power supply: Prime Minister

Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has instructed the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) and state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) to diversify their power sources, including imports, to ensure sufficient supply at the peak of the summer heat wave, especially in the northern region.

“This is to ensure there is no shortage of electricity for production, business, and people's lives in any circumstance,” the government office quoted the Prime Minister as saying in a release.

According to the ministry, in the first four months of the year, the country's electricity demand increased by 13% year-on-year, exceeding the forecast of 9%. In the northern region alone, the demand expanded 17%.

Vietnam currently imports electricity from Laos and China through 220 kV and 110 kV lines, but the proportion is very low compared to the country's total demand. EVN's four-month data showed that imported electricity output reached 1.56 billion kWh, accounting for 1.6% of the network's total.

The total electricity capacity imported from Laos will be at least 3,000 MW by 2025 and 5,000 MW by 2030 under a commitment between the two governments. The Prime Minister has approved a policy to import electricity, mainly hydropower, from projects in the neighboring country, with a total capacity of 2,689 MW.

In early May, the government green-lighted the MoIT’s proposal to purchase electricity from the 250-MW Truong Son wind power project in Laos, starting Q4/2025.

The move is part of an agreement between the two governments on power imports, said the ministry, adding that the move would improve supply and reduce the risk of power shortages in northern Vietnam.

According to the release, the PM also asked the MoIT and EVN to take advantage of domestic sources, such as coal-fueled power, hydropower, renewable energy, and biomass power. "Coal-fueled power plants need to choose proper times for maintenance to avoid incidents."

Vietnam’s national mining group Vinacomin and Dong Bac Corporation should increase exploitation to provide enough coal for electricity production, while minimizing coal imports.

Meanwhile, hydropower plants must keep a close eye on the weather and hydrological conditions to operate their turbines, ensuring maximum capacity during peak times, the Prime Minister requested.

The National Load Dispatch Center predicted that during the peak dry season this year (April-July), the highest power capacity demand in the North could reach 27,481 MW, an increase of 17% from the record level set in the same period last year. Meanwhile, the total produced and imported electricity output of the northern power system in this period is expected to rise 10% year-on-year to about 52.3 billion kWh.

In the first four months, the total electricity output, both domestically produced and imported, was estimated to total 124.2 billion kWh, representing an increase of 12.1% over the same period last year.

On April 27, when temperatures soared, consumption rose to a record of 47,670MW. However, electricity supply was basically ensured.

EVN on May 22 rejected a Reuters article which quoted two sources as saying that Vietnamese authorities have called on Apple supplier Foxconn to "voluntarily cut power use by 30% at its assembly plants in the north of the country".

Northern Vietnam saw electricity outages in summer last year, and there are concerns that this might happen again this year.