The national power utility EVN has stated that it will get ready to provide sufficient power in order to meet a likely higher demand in 2019.
Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung speaking at the conference of EVN - Photo: VGP
The company aims to produce and purchase a total of 232.5 billion kWh of electricity this year, an increase of 9.2% from the previous year, Deputy General Director Nguyen Tai Anh said at a conference on January 3.
He added that the company will prepare plans to deal with unexpected situations and proactively work with the relevant parties to ensure adequate input for power generation.
2018 was a challenging year for EVN as the actual demand exceeded the expectation by 2.4 billion kWh, with a severe shortage of supply in the southern region.
Gas supply fell sharply while coal supply also failed to meet demand and the water volume at hydropower plants, especially those in the central region, dropped at the end of the year.
Furthermore, EVN had to bear increased costs for input coals and oil, buy electricity at a higher price due to unstable exchange rates and faced difficulties in securing funds for new generation projects.
Nevertheless, the company managed to provide a total of 212.9 billion kWh in 2018, up 10.36% from a year earlier. Vietnam also jumped 37 positions to number 27 among 190 countries in the rankings of access to electricity. EVN also received a rating of BB with a stable outlook by Fitch Ratings.
In 2018 the company posted a revenue of VND340.5 trillion (US$14.6 billion), up nearly 15% from 2017.
Speaking at the EVN conference, Deputy PM Trinh Dinh Dung urged EVN to invest heavily in its power supply and transmission capacity in order to prevent power shortages from occurring.
He stated that the power sector faces electricity shortages as its greatest threat as Vietnam’s power demand is growing at an annual pace of 10% or even higher.
The Deputy PM also called on EVN to enhance its business performance, reduce environmental pollution and step up the construction of new generation facilities.
Prior to the conference, EVN announced a decision to appoint Tran Dinh Nhan, a former chairman and general director of the Central Power Corporation, as its new general director.
Source: VEN