|
Power firm reprimanded
With a power shortage forecast to continue for months, a government minister Wednesday called on the distribution monopoly Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to lift its game and urged citizens to economize their power use.
Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang asked EVN to speed up the process of solving technical problems and rearrange its maintenance schedule.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade also decided to inspect EVN’s network, with the assistance of the Ministry of Finance and other agencies.
The minister ordered EVN to immediately implement all new power plant projects and said EVN should work with the Energy and Petroleum Department and the Electricity Regulatory Authority, both under the Ministry of Industry, to explain the current difficulties to the public.
Vietnam Television was assigned the task of disseminating EVN’s explanation.
EVN should give priority to providing power to businesses that produce exports and essential commodities, Hoang said.
Residents must be informed of any planned outages in advance so they can make preparations, he said.
Power cuts due to supply shortages should also be arranged logically to ensure all EVN customers were treated equally, Hoang said.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade forecast a more severe power shortage in the second half of this year and during next year’s dry season.
The minister also said the plan to raise electricity prices must be carried out in accordance with the market situation.
On Tuesday EVN said the power shortage would continue until August because technical problems at several thermo-power plants had not been resolved.
The water levels at many hydropower plants were low, which made the shortage even more critical, the group said.
In the last few days, constant outages in many provinces caused many headaches for residents.
On Monday, various areas in Ho Chi Minh City’s districts 8, 9, 11, 12, Tan Binh and Binh Tan were blacked out for almost the entire day.
Although all power plants nationwide were running at full capacity, production can only meet 70 percent of demand, EVN said.
Thanhnien
|
