Power shortage will be overcome

Mr. Do Thang Hai admitted that some places lack electricity for production and daily life, but said that the situation will be resolved and hoped for sympathy.

Many places in Hanoi have been experiencing emergency power cuts in recent days due to skyrocketing consumption. At a press conference on the afternoon of June 3, the risk of power shortages for production and business was raised with the leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade .

“We talk about risks, but in reality, some places are lacking electricity for production and daily life,” said Mr. Do Thang Hai, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, at a press conference.

Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade: Electricity shortage will be overcome

Mr. Do Thang Hai, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, answered at the press conference on the afternoon of June 3. Photo: Nhat Bac

Leaders of the Ministry of Industry and Trade expressed sympathy and shared the difficulties of businesses and the inconvenience and suffering of people in their daily lives caused by the lack of electricity. However, Mr. Hai said that the power outages in Hanoi and some other localities in recent days "only lasted for a certain period of time".

He said the power shortage was due to the fact that the weather was record hot across the country, which had been unpredictable and had lasted since the beginning of May. The heat increased the demand for household electricity. Meanwhile, hydropower - one of the main sources of electricity supply for the North this year - was mobilized at a low rate due to very little water flowing into the lakes, affecting the dry season's electricity supply. Imported coal arrived later than the demand for electricity production at the end of May.

However, the representative of the Ministry of Industry and Trade still believes that, with a total power capacity of about 81,504 MW, the highest load demand of 44,000 MW, if ensuring that thermal power plants do not encounter problems, operate continuously, and have enough water for hydropower, the power shortage will be resolved.

In addition, Mr. Tran Van Son, Minister and Head of the Government Office , reiterated the Prime Minister's direction at many meetings, which is to not let there be a power shortage in May, June and the coming months.

Along with solutions to supply coal (domestic, imported), gas, oil and increase mobilization from renewable electricity, and the largest consumption capacity reaching more than 54.3% of the total installed capacity of the power source, Mr. Son said "we can rest assured that there is enough electricity, the remaining problem is to use and operate the system".

Faced with the above difficult situation, three solutions to ensure electricity supply have been proposed by the authorities. First is to increase the operation of the power system, mobilize available power sources and ensure fuel (coal, oil, gas) is ready for supply.

For example, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has regulated the supply of 300,000 tons of coal for power generation in May and 100,000 tons of coal in June and July. In addition, the amount of gas supplied for power generation in the Southeast is 18% and the Southwest is 8%.

The second solution is to accelerate the operation of transitional renewable power plants (wind power, solar power) that do not yet have prices. As of May 31, there were 7 projects with a total capacity of more than 430 MW generating electricity to the grid.

Finally, saving electricity. Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai said that this is a consistent policy that has been implemented for many years, not saving electricity when there is a shortage. In the current context, saving is even more necessary and currently 53 localities have committed to promoting it. The amount of electricity saved each day is about 20 million kWh, equivalent to 2.5% of consumption.

Regarding the resolution of wind and solar power not included in the planning, Deputy Minister Do Thang Hai said that the Power Plan VIII approved by the Prime Minister does not list specific wind, solar or offshore power project names, but only states the total development capacity of these power sources up to 2030, with a vision to 2050. The Ministry of Industry and Trade is finalizing regulations and building a foundation to serve as a basis for implementing these projects in the coming time.

For transitional projects, EVN is working with investors to speed up price negotiations according to the price framework issued by the Ministry. He noted that removing difficulties for projects that did not receive the previous FIT price is necessary, but in addition to the electricity price mechanism, it is necessary to comply with other regulations such as planning, investment, land, and environment.

“With goodwill, harmonizing benefits and sharing risks, and complying with the law, we hope that these projects will soon overcome obstacles, difficulties, and violations. Localities will also support these projects to soon mobilize power sources to ensure electricity supply,” said Mr. Hai.

Currently, 59 out of 85 projects have submitted documents to negotiate provisional prices and power purchase agreements (PPA). 40 projects have been approved by the Ministry of Industry and Trade with provisional prices equal to 50% of the ceiling price in the price range, which is a maximum of VND908 per kWh (excluding VAT). However, there are still 26 plants (1,346 MW) that have not submitted documents to EVN to negotiate electricity prices.

According to Anh Minh/VNE

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