Reducing the risk of power shortages

Power shortages in the south will be avoided thanks to Pleiku-My Phuoc-Cau Bong power transmission line

Avoiding power cuts

According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Do Thang Hai, in the first four months of this year, power supply in the country stabilized, meeting civil and production demands. Power production in April reached an estimated 11.42 billion kWh, an increase of 12.83 percent compared to the same month last year.

In the first four months of this year, power production reached an estimated 41.94 billion kWh, an increase of 10.28 percent compared to the same period last year. Commercial power in April totaled 10.49 billion kWh, an increase of 6.88 percent compared to the same month in 2013. In particular, power supply to the construction sector; trade, hotel and restaurant; and agriculture, forestry and fisheries in April increased by 2.37 percent, 4.73 percent and 7.78 percent compared to the same month last year, respectively. The power system’s additional charge in April reached up to 400 million kWh per day with the highest capacity of 20,927 MW. Hydropower accounted for 35.6 percent of power generation in April, followed by gas turbines and thermo-electricity with 34 percent and 27.7 percent, respectively.

Vietnam Electricity (EVN) Deputy General Director Duong Quang Thanh said that according to calculations, with a commercial power growth of about 9.2 percent in 2014 and 2015, the national power system still ensures spare capacity of from 18-29 percent. The central provinces reach the highest spare capacity of 79-94 percent, followed by the northern provinces with 24-32 percent and the southern provinces with about 9 percent.

Reducing the risk of power shortages in the south

According to statistics, the south receives additional power from the north and central Vietnam every year. In particular, additional power for the south would reach 12.9 billion kWh in 2014 and 15.7 billion kWh in 2015. According to Duong Quang Thanh, power supply in the south is heavily depended on the support of north-central-south power transmission lines. In a case of repair or incidents, the risk of power shortages in the south in the dry season will be very high.

The Pleiku-My Phuoc-Cau Bong 500 kV power transmission line was officially put into operation on May 5, helping reduce the risk of power shortages for the south. This key project was urgently deployed under the direction of the prime minister and brought an important meaning, contributing to ensuring safe and stable power supply from the north to the south.

Putting the Pleiku-My Phuoc-Cau Bong 500 kV power transmission line into operation has contributed to creating favorable conditions for linking the power system in the southeastern region to the Mekong Delta region and ensuring safe operations in a case of power exchange at a high level between regions in the country.

According to Duong Quang Thanh, in addition to the Pleiku-My Phuoc-Cau Bong 500 kV power transmission line, EVN would put the Vinh Tan 2 Thermo-Electricity Plant’s machine 1 into operation, contributing to ensuring power supply to the south in the dry season this year.

According to Notice 22/TB-VPCP of the Government Office, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai requested EVN and its members to minimize power cuts in the dry season.

Source: VEN