EVN power output increases as water levels at hydrodams rise

Vietnam Electricity’s output may have risen more than 10% in the first half from a year earlier because of higher water levels at hydropower dams, the state- owned utility said.

Power production may have increased to 52.4 billion kilowatt-hours, the utility known as EVN said in a document distributed to the media at a briefing in Hanoi today. The volume of water at EVN’s hydropower dams rose by about 12.9 billion cubic meters in the first half, exceeding an initial forecast, the company said in the document, without elaborating.

The utility is trying to boost power generation to meet rising demand as the economy accelerated, boosting energy use. Electricity demand may rise 15% this year, Duong Quang Thanh, EVN’s deputy chief executive officer, said in January.

EVN’s electricity output also rose because new generators started operations as scheduled in the first half, the company said, referring to the Nhon Trach 2, Son La, Uong Bi plants. EVN may have generated 9.3 billion of kilowatt-hours in June, up 13% from a year earlier, according to the document.

The Hanoi-based utility said it expects power generation to increase in the second half as water levels rise during the wet season. Overall power output will also expand at least by about 2,000 megawatt-hours as new plants start operations in the second half, EVN said.
Ensure Stable Supply

The government wants “to attract local and overseas investors into the industry to help develop and ensure stable electricity supply to the economy,” Hoang Quoc Vuong, a deputy minister of trade and industry, said at the media briefing. Both state-owned and private companies investing in the industry will be treated “fairly,” he said, without elaborating.

The Ministry of Trade and Industry has told EVN, Vietnam Oil & Gas Group and Vietnam National Coal-Mineral Industries Group to boost operations at their thermal and coal-fired power plants to ensure electricity supplies in the second half, according to the document.

Vietnam’s second-quarter gross domestic product grew 5.67% from a year earlier, compared with 5.43% in the first three months, data from the General Statistics Office in Hanoi show. – Bloomberg

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam electricity market, Vietnam energy