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Electricity shortages continue as things cool off across the country
Although the peak season of electricity consumption has passed, the crisis remains.
"The estimated shortage of electricity is from 800 MW to 1,800 MW each day because the entire system’s usable electricity is about 10,200 MW while demand is from 11,000 to 12,000 WM," an Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) official said.
"The shortage is extremely severe during the morning peak hours, from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m., and afternoon peak hours, from 6 PM to 9 PM And both cities and the countryside are at risk of power ourtages," he added.
"The current electricity shortage isn’t as serious as it was in July and August, but some thermo power plants have to temporarily stop some turbines for maintenance," said Dang Hoang An, EVN deputy general director.
"The Pha Lai I thermo power plant and the Phu My thermo power plants, EVN’s two big supplies of thermo-electricity, have stopped their turbines for maintenance. The Pha Lai power plant stopped one turbine of 100 MW. The Phu My 2-1 power plant stopped a turbine of 150 MW. The Phu My 2-2 plant will stop a turbine of 240 MW. And the Phu My 3 plant has just resumed operations," he said.
"Both turbines of the Ca Mau 1 Thermo power plant stopped in turns for maintenance. The plant closed down completely for three days though," said An.
"Another thermo power plant, the 300 MW Uong Bi Expanded Thermo power Plant, hasn’t generated a single watt of electricity because of breakdowns."
Power was off in many places in Ha Noi on September 3, even during non-peak hours, from 7:30 a.m. until 2:30 PM or the entire morning.
Households, offices, enterprises, and even manufacturing plants all suffered blackouts. Sudden power outages create great losses for companies without any warning.
Vu Duc Giang, director general of the Viet Nam National Textile and Garment Group (Vinatex), said: "When we are dyeing fabric and the power cuts unexpectedly, we have to throw away the fabric being used at that time. The losses are incalculable."
"We’ve urged the electricity sector to warn us about power fluctuations so we can meet our deadlines for product delivery," Giang added.
Even though the former Ha Noi Electricity Company, which did not include the Electricity Company of Ha Tay Province, allocated 902 MW a day, there still isn’t enough electricity," said Pham Le Hung, head of the electricity dispatching division of the Ha Noi Electricity Company. "An agenda with blackouts is necessary."
"The power is cut only during two peak hours of the day. However, the suden blackouts are due to unavoidable problems such as power surges which make the relay cut electricity off automatically," Hung said.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade asked EVN to maximise the power output of all hydro-electricity and thermo power plants and even diesel-electricity plants to provide enough power for all customers.
VNS
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