No more power cuts in northern Vietnam: EVN

Vietnam Electricity (EVN) says it is geared up to meet electricity demand in the northern region starting Friday, easing shortages that had persisted for several weeks.

The state utility reported Thursday evening that water levels in hydropower reservoirs have increased over the past few days and problems facing some turbines at thermal power plants have also been fixed.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade has backed EVN, saying that starting next week, power supply will not be as “stressful” as the last days of May and the beginning of June. It said hydropower reservoirs are expected to fill up with early onset of floods in the northern region, ensuring supply of about 421 million kWh per day.

"There will be no power cuts in the North," the ministry said.

Neither EVN nor the ministry specified the duration of sufficient power supply.

The northern region accounted for nearly 46% (18,974 MW) of the country's peak usage capacity (41,569 MW) on Thursday. Hydropower and thermal power plants supply the region with 74 million kWh and 269.5 million kWh a day.

By Thursday afternoon, water levels in all hydropower reservoirs in the northern and north-central regions including the provinces of Tuyen Quang, Son La, Lai Chau and Hoa Binh were 1.5-22 meters higher than the ‘dead’ levels. At the Thac Ba, Huoi Quang, Ban Ve and Quang Tri reservoirs, the water levels were at 0.9-1.7 meters above the minimum levels.

From late May, Hanoi and many other northern localities experienced power cuts due to soaring demand in the hot season. The situation was caused by a fall in hydroelectricity output due to drought conditions and supply disruptions at thermal power plants because of problems like shortages of coal.

In a letter sent to EVN in early June, port and logistics companies in northern Vietnam's Hai Phong city cried out for help as the frequency of power blackouts continued to rise amid electricity shortages.

The government stepped in, requesting the MoIT, the Commission for the Management of State Capital at Enterprises (CMSC), EVN and Petrovietnam to resolve the shortages at the earliest. The ministry and the relevant agencies were also asked to accelerate power and transmission projects, and mobilize more rooftop solar power.

The MoIT was required to speed up progress of the Quang Trach II power plant in the central province of Quang Binh. The ministry and the CMSC were assigned to supervise the implementation of a 3,500-kilovolt transmission line from the central region to the North, which is part of Vietnam’s newly-approved Power Plan VIII.

The government also instructed the ministry to work on a mechanism in July to encourage the use of rooftop solar power to serve residents and public offices; and another mechanism facilitating direct power purchasing agreements.