Data from the Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN) show this the country’s power system has a total design capacity of 34,000 megawatts while demand is only 26,000 megawatts. Southern demand is expected to rise in the coming years.
To ensure sufficient southern power supply in the future, EVN’s National Power Transmission Corporation (EVNNPT) has been implementing a number of transmission projects since 2012, said Chairman of the EVNNPT’s member council Dang Phan Tuong, adding that 14 projects became operational in 2014.
About 20 percent of the electricity consumed in southern Vietnam was sent from the north and central region through the national transmission network last year, he noted.
The network’s transmission capacity from the north to the central region has been increased to 1,800 megawatts and from the central region to the south to 3,100 megawatts thus far, Tuong said, assuring that these figures will continue to grow in 2015.
Meanwhile, the 4,308 megawatt Duyen Hai Power Centre, currently under construction in the southern province of Tra Vinh, is a key facility for southern electricity generation. It covers 878.91 hectares of land in Duyen Hai district and includes four coal-fired thermal power plants.
Two turbines with a combined capacity of 1,245 megawatts are scheduled to be connected to the national grid this year with a third beginning production in 2016, Tuong said.
Looking to transmit power from the centre to regional localities, EVNNPT has to complete the 220 kilovolt lines of Duyen Hai – Mo Cay and Mo Cay – Ben Tre, the 500 kilovolt line from Duyen Hai – My Tho, and the 500 kilovolt Duyen Hai substation, he added.
The Duyen Hai Centre and its Vinh Tan counterpart, which is also currently under construction in central Binh Thuan province, are the only power generators for the south until 2018. As such, this region will require transmitted electricity until 2020.
VietNamPlus