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Lowered GDP target eases pressure on electricity supply
The volume of electricity required for economic development is expected to be 2.656 billion kwh lower than the initial plan. The volume is equal to the amount of electricity the country was short of last year.
The drop in demand is due to the lowered GDP growth rate target. In the previous plan, in order to obtain the GDP growth rate of 6.5 percent, Vietnam needed to see a 13 percent growth rate in electricity output this year, which means that it needed to churn out 86.65 billion kwh.
However, as a result of the economic downturn and the targeted GDP growth rate being lowered to five percent as per the plan the Government has submitted to the National Assembly, the total expected electricity volume is 83.994 billion kwh this year.
This figure represents an increase of just 9.66 percent in comparison with 2008. This growth rate is very low if compared to the growth rates of two and three years ago.
It is expected that the electricity volume needed for production, which always accounts for a half of the total merchandise electricity output, will be many times lower than that consumed in 2008.
In the first five months of the year, the electricity volume used in industrial production and construction increased by 1.6 percent only. In some months, the electricity volume for production saw a decrease as many production workshops halted production. In 2008, the demanded electricity volume for production increased by 15-20 percent.
Meanwhile, the national grid has received an additional 2,736 MW in electricity output as nine power projects have been put into operation.
Leaders of the Electricity of Vietnam have predicted an electricity surplus in the last six months of the year.
The Ministry of Industry and Trade has also affirmed that an electricity shortage will not occur in the dry season this year, even though the Cuu Long and PM3 gas supply for the 1,500 MW Ca Mau power plant was halted in early May.
However, experts say that as Vietnam is not able to keep a reserve of electricity, the warning about a possible electricity shortage should still be maintained, especially as a series of power projects have been slow to be put into operation.
Pham Huyen
vietnamnet
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