City fails to effect power conservation

HCM City can reduce power consumption by between 10 and 50 per cent and help ease the current shortage, experts say.

While many measures have been taken to reduce electricity consumption, the prolonged hot weather conditions have increased the use of air-conditioners and other equipment, making the situation even more difficult, they add.

They warn that if power consumption is not reduced by at least 10 per cent, there would be frequent power cuts throughout the city in the coming days.

Tran Khiem Tuan, deputy director of HCM City Power Company, said electricity consumption in recent days has soared dramatically from 40 million KWh per day up to 46 – 50 million KWh per day.

Meanwhile, the Viet Nam Electricity Group (EVN) has said it could only supply the city with a maximum of 46 million KWh per day this month.

The city People’s Committee has already instructed agencies at all levels to save power effectively.

It has cut back the use of public lighting, including advertisement billboards, by 50 per cent, and directed State and non-state businesses in the city to reduce consumption by a minimum of 10 per cent.

However, many companies, businesses and manufacturers are still using electricity lavishly, experts said.

High savings potential

According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the city has great potential to save electricity if people, businesses and sectors applied themselves seriously to the task.

The cement-manufacturing sector, for instance, can save up to 50 per cent; pottery by about 35 per cent; steel by 20 per cent; garment and textiles by around 30 per cent; and trading centres by up to 25 per cent.

However, none of these sectors have achieved the targets.

Meanwhile, households can also effect significant power savings by using compact lights and proper use of household electrical equipment like irons, air-conditioners and electrical cookers, experts said.

While businesses account for up to 65 per cent of total electricity consumption, very few use advanced or modern electrical equipment that can save electricity.

Nguyen Thanh Toan, a technician at the HCM City Energy Saving Centre, said there are many effective measures to save electricity, but lack of knowledge and awareness was a major reason these were not applied.

City figures show under a plan to save about 200 million KWh in 2010, valued at about VND260 billion (US$13 million), HCM City has already saved 71.25 million KWh during the first four months.

If households can save 6 per cent of power consumption, the city could save up to 28.8 million KWh, and if businesses can save 10 per cent of electricity consumption, the city could save up to hundreds of millions KWh, worth hundreds of billions of dong.

The HCM City Power Company is now encouraging households to save electricity in daily activities by offering money and other gifts to those who achieve set consumption targets.

The company has said it plans to work closely with industrial parks, export processing zones as well as households that consume large amounts of electricity to discuss effective measures they can take to remedy the situation. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam energy, Vietnam power conservation, Vietnam power shortage