EVN Chair: electricity shortages still cannot be solved

Dao Van Hung, Chairman of Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), has warned that a severe drought may lead to a delay in power generation at the Son La Hydropower Plant. Electricity shortages will become more serious in 2012, since no solution has been found.

In 2012, electricity shortages will be a “serious disease”

According to Hung, hydropower plants now provide 6,500 MW out of the total 19,000 MW provided by the whole electricity generation system. EVN has 17 water reservoirs for hydropower plants nationwide. However, to date, most of the water reservoirs do not have water. The water levels at many reservoirs like Thac Mo, Tri An and Ham Thuan-Da Mi are now at a “dead point.”

The prolonged drought is a catastrophe for the electricity industry. The current situation cannot be improved, an electricity shortage in 2011 is anticipated.

The current electricity supply is like the electricity supply during the dry season. Several provinces in the south have suffered from electricity outages in recent days, because demand is 5-10 percent higher than supply.

According to EVN, one of the reasons for more electricity shortages is that steelmakers nationwide gobble up to 1,900 MW of electricity, while cement plants consume 1,200-1,500 MW.

“We now have to pay the penalty for keeping electricity prices at low levels for too long. In the first six months of the year, we incurred a loss of 6 trillion dong. The loss is expected to decrease, but everything will still depend on water levels at reservoirs during the last months of the year,” Hung said.

“It is foreseeable that electricity will still be seriously lacking, which is a big problem that we still cannot solve. We should have begun solving this problem seven or eight years ago,” Hung added.

Electricity shortages expected after the great festival

Nguyen Van Thanh, Director of Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant Company, has said that the electricity output of the company is 1.4 billion KWH lower than the same period last year, while the water level of the reservoir is 12.1 meters lower.

In order to prepare for the electricity supply plan for 2011, the company has three plans to store water.

According to Thanh, in order to ensure sufficient electricity for Hanoi during the great festival (the 1,000th anniversary of Thang Long-Hanoi), EVN has instructed the company to reserve two electricity generator units (with a capacity of 480 MW) to supply electricity to Hanoi.

During the same period last year, the company generated 42 million KWH a day, but it can now only generate 32-26 million KWH a day. It is foreseeable that the electricity supply will see more shortages if reservoir water levels do not rise.

“With these conditions, we will not be able to fulfill EVN’s electricity output plans assigned earlier this year. Even if the water level at Son La and Hoa Binh reservoirs can be maintained at 99 meters, electricity output will only be 7.5 billion KWH, or one billion KWH lower than the plan.

Former Head of the Management Board of Son La Hydropower Plant Vu Duc Thin, Member of EVN’s Board of Directors, said the drought on Da River valley will surely affect electricity generation in 2011 and the transportation of equipment to Son La Plant.

A second-generation unit is scheduled to generate electricity in April 2011. Some equipment for the operation of the power plant still has not been carried to the site due to low water levels.-Tien phong

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam energy, Vietnam power shortage