EVN warns of power cuts in dry season

Thứ năm, 10/3/2011 | 14:18 GMT+7

The Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) in the first two months of the year purchased up to 8.98 billion kWh of electric power from other power suppliers outside the group.

The purchased power includes 959 million kWh imported from China, a year-on-year increase of 28.89 per cent, according to the latest figures released by EVN. In January and February, EVN generated 6.4 billion of electricity while power consumption on the national grid amounted to 15.8 billion kWh. Consumption in industrial production and construction sectors rose by 21.41 per cent while consumption for provincial administrations and residents' daily activities increased by 8.54 per cent compared with the same period last year. EVN has also warned that the increasing demand from the industrial production and construction sectors would lead to power supply shortages and power cuts during the dry season. Meanwhile, water levels at big hydro-power reservoirs such as Tuyen Quang, Yaly, Dai Ninh, Tri An and Hoa Binh were only four to 10 metres above the safety level for operation. During a customer meeting in Ha Noi on Thursday, the deputy general director of EVN's subsidiary Northern Power Company (NPC), Nguyen Thanh Le,said power shortages facing northern provinces may amount to 9-12 per cent less than the demand for power during the dry season, especially from April to June. The power situation worsened after a number of thermal-power turbines and transformers were suspended for maintenance services. EVN said its total supply amounted to 294.8 million kWh per day in March, with maximum capacity ranging from 15,500 to 16,100 MW. Under such a situation, EVN has asked power plants to ensure full operation and to shorten the time for maintenance services. According to an announcement from the HCM City Power Co, many areas in the city's Cu Chi, Tan Binh and Go Vap districts will have to encounter power cuts between March 5 and 11 due to "major repair and maintenance services" of the city's grid. The re-arrangements of telecom wire and cable networks are behind power failures in the coming months in the city. This year, these arrangements will be made for telecom wire and cables which run along 100km of medium-and low-voltage transmission lines in 11 districts in the city. City residents have also complained about recent unplanned power cuts. Pham Minh Tam, an employee at an office on Nguyen Thai Hoc Street in District 1, said the sudden power cut in the area between 15.45 and 17.00 on Thursday seriously affected her job. Many areas in Go Vap District also suffered unannounced power cuts on Wednesday. Power priorities Speaking at the NPC's customer meeting on Thursday, the deputy chairman of Nghe An provincial People's Committee, Huynh Thanh Dien, said transparency in power supply from EVN would help customers better understand the current power shortages in the country. He said Nghe An had given priority to supply power to enterprises in industrial parks and export-processing enterprises. But many businesses not included in these categories had asked the provincial authority for such electricity priority. Dien asked EVN to issue common criteria for electricity priorities to create favourable conditions for the province to better supply electric power to customers. Dam Van Bong, chairman of Ha Giang provincial People's Committee, said power consumption for residents' daily activities accounted for 70 per cent of power supply in the province. Bong said Ha Giang had also established a provincial steering board for power supply and approved a list of customers to be given the priority for power supply. Source: Vietnam News