Blackout to hit firms hard

Firms face major disruptions to their manufacturing schedules

According to Dong Nai Power Company Limited, the province’s more than 60 per cent of its electricity output are earmarked for industrial production and will endure a shortage of up to 1.7 million kWh during the dry season.

The province lately introduced three electricity saving plans which envisage cuts of up to 18 per cent of daily power usage demand.

Ho Chi Minh City, Ba Ria-Vung Tau and Binh Duong provinces have also taken the same road. Binh Duong People’s Committee recently gave the nod to three plans which would cut around 10 per cent of the province’s actual power usage, estimated at six to 18 hours.

Doan Trong Hung, deputy general director of SABMiller Vietnam, which operates a brewery in Binh Duong province’s My Phuoc Industrial Zone II, said: “We [the firm] have bought a 1,500KVA power generator to offset the shortfalls. Actually, electricity shortages can be solved, but we have to spend more on power generators.”

According to Dong Nai Industry and Trade Department, 270 other businesses based in the province pledged to operate their own generators when power is cut.

Nabil Khalaf, plant manager of Peb Steel Vietnam Limited Company, which has three plants in Ba Ria-Vung Tau province’s Dong Xuyen Industrial Park, said: “The local government’s 15 per cent power supply reduction plan is very bad.  The saved electricity may be equivalent to two days of power cuts, which is impossible for us to maintain production flows.”

“Also,  jobs generated at our plant create  income for about 500 local families, so we just can’t cut jobs or lower their salaries because of the power shortages. The workers have been with us for the long term, so it is not fair to leave them unemployed when power is out,” said Khalaf.

Binh Duong Industrial Zones Management Authority head Tran Van Lieu said: “Power-cuts and labour shortages were prime concerns for around 800 enterprises operating in the province’s industrial zones. Many businesses will have to arrange production on Sunday, thus driving up labour costs. We [local authorities] have all known the enterprises’ difficulties, but given the large shortage of power, our moves were inevitable.”

As stated by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Vietnam will continue to face power shortages of at least 3 billion Kwh in 2011 because of the scarcity of water in reservoirs, especially from January to May. While the whole country’s electricity demand increased by 18 per cent in 2010, the rate was 28 per cent in Binh Duong and was expected to rise to 30-35 per cent this year.