Power cuts ‘unlikely’ in dry season

It is possible that there will be no power cuts during the six-month dry season if the increased demand for electricity remains lower than 18.3 per cent, said deputy minister of Industry and Trade (MoIT) Hoang Quoc Vuong at a press conference on Saturday.

He said the Electricity of Viet Nam estimated a shortage of 2 billion kWh in the dry season from January to June this year assuming demand does not exceed that percentage. But data from the first two months showed an increase of only 12.9 per cent, which lowered the estimated electricity shortage to about 1.7 billion kWh.

“As we’re actively carrying out energy saving campaigns, more rain is forecast, and major electricity investors, such as coal, oil and electricity corporations are accelerating the completion of their power plants. I think that we will have sufficient electricity for the next four months,” Vuong said.

EVN reported 1.4 billion kWh was saved by power cuts during last year’s dry season.

Last week, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung approved the electricity rate hike of 15.28 per cent compared with the current rate.

Vuong said this was aimed in part at encouraging people and manufacturers to use energy more effectively.

Pham Manh Thang, head of the MoIT’s Electrical Distribution and Control Department, said last year households suffered power cuts disproportionately, but this year, if necessary, factories and companies would experience cuts as well.

The hike in the price of electricity will also help EVN, which is suffering from a great loss as production costs rise, according to Vuong.

“We expected that EVN would still suffer losses in 2011 despite the price increases because its main profit comes from hydro-electric plants, which are in areas not forecast to have a lot of rain,” Vuong said.

“For an electricity price that meets its real production costs, we would probably have to increase the price by 60 per cent, not 15.28 per cent like it is now. But such an increase would be impossible,” he said, adding that he was not sure whether there would be another power price hike in the near future.

The MoIT’s deputy minister also said the price hike was a move to attract more foreign and domestic investment in electricity generation. — VNS

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam energy, Vietnam power shortage