China power purchases to address electricity woes

Vietnam is promoting overseas power purchasing to offset domestic supply shortages.

The government recently instructed state-run Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to negotiate a long-term power purchasing agreement with China for 2010-2015 to help ensure supplies for northern Vietnam.

China is currently a big overseas power supplier and the majority of power is supplied via 110kV and 220kV lines to supply to some northern mountainous provinces.

In August, 2010, the neighbouring country provided up to 531 million kilowatt hours of power for Vietnam.

Many enterprises have been forced to knock production on the head due to black outs

According to EVN’s deputy general director Dang Hoang An, Vietnam had so far registered to buy some 400 million kWh of electricity from China a month. However, the actual supplies were always higher than the both sides’ agreement because of the great demand from Vietnamese consumers.

The Vietnamese government also requested EVN to study the possibility of connecting the local 500kV grid to China, which must report back to the government by January, 2011.

A study for the exploitation of hydropower sources from Laos and Cambodia is also promoted to accelerate overseas power supplies for Vietnam, which has experienced serious shortages because of dryness and unstable operations of some major thermal power projects.

Power output fell 3.5 per cent month-on-month in August, mainly because of the slow operation of hydropower plants across the country, while other major coal-fired power plants operated unstably.

Water levels in northern Hoa Binh and Tuyen Quang reservoirs stand two to eight metres lower than at the same time last year, stopping plants from running their turbines at high capacity.

Some major coal-fired power plants including Haiphong and Quang Ninh in northern Vietnam had to cease operations for repairs.

“The investors are working to fix their problems. By mid September, the Haiphong plant is expected to bring back its second turbine into operation. Quang Ninh plant will also operate its first turbine again at that time,” An said.

Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang told a ministry monthly meeting last week that the power industry would continue to face difficulties during 2011-2012 because of supply shortages and high demand.

According to EVN, although supplies would be ensured in September, the country would continue to face capacity shortages. The average power supply is expected at 287 million kWh a day this month, a bit lower than the 289 million kWh recorded in August. The industry’s whole capacity will stand at around 15,500-15,800 megawatts in September.

EVN produced nearly 39 billion kWh of power in the first eight months of the year while buying some 24.8 billion kWh from other local and overseas producers.

Commercial power output increased 14.7 per cent on-year to 55.2 billion kWh, including 51 per cent for industrial and construction sectors and 38 per cent for household consumption.