Electricity still cut in Mekong Delta’s rainy season

Water reservoirs do not have enough water for hydropower plants even though it is the rainy season. Power companies claim they cannot say exactly when electricity supplies will return to normal.

Residents of Tien Giang province have been miserable over the last two weeks, because electricity is cut once every three days. In My Tho City and Cai Be District, electricity is cut every two days, from early morning until 7 pm. However, in some places, power only comes back after 10 pm. This has upset people’s lives.

Luu Thanh Nam, Director of Tien Giang province’s Power Company, confirmed that the company must cut power due to the electricity shortage. Since Tien Giang provincial People’s Committee decided to prioritise state agencies, industrial zones and big enterprises, “small clients”, including small production workshops and households must bear the electric outages.

“Everyday, the electricity cut in Tien Giang province is as high as 50-60MW, or 60 percent of the total electricity output provided to the whole province. Therefore, clients have suffered,” Nam explained.

Nam asserted that his company cannot cut power just for several hours they will have to cut power in many areas. “In general, electricity is cut from 6 am to 7 pm. We still do not know when the supply will return to normal,” Nam added.

In An Giang and Dong Thap provinces, what makes residents tetchy is that power companies do not notify them in advance. Power companies protest that even they do not know the supply schedules.

Director of An Giang Power and Water Company Tran Thanh Hoang explained that his company distributes electricity to the whole province, but he does not know in advance about power cut schedules. Meanwhile, Vo Thanh Duyen, Director of An Giang Power Company calculated that the volume of electricity allocated to the company has dropped by 1/3.

“Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) needs to release an official notice explaining the reasons behind the electricity cuts and inform us of power cuts, so that we can provide information to residents,” Duyen argued.

According to Pham Huu Khai, Director of Dong Thap province’s Power Company, EVN has said that the gas run power plant Nam Con Son is now under maintenance, so the volume of electricity allocated for the province has dropped by 20 percent.

Nguyen Ngoc Thanh, Director of Dong Nai provincial Power Company, claimed that the output is still high enough for industrial zones, but the company must cut power for households as requested by Southern Electricity Regulatory Centre.

Pham Hien Thien Ly from Ben Tre provincial Power Company also confirmed that, since the beginning of September, the company must cut 20-40 MW a day as ordered or the power system will fail, causing large-scale power outages.

Deputy Chair of Lam Dong Provincial People’s Committee Hoang Sy Son has asked the provincial power company to restrict power cuts to ensure enough electricity for key enterprises making export products.-Tuoi tre

Tags: Vietnam electricity, Vietnam energy, Vietnam power shortage