Power cuts to hit capital next year

12/10/2011

The capital is set to experience power shortages of 15-20 per cent during the course of next year due to slow progress in the instalment of a power transmission line system and transformer stations.

The capital is set to experience power shortages of 15-20 per cent during the course of next year due to slow progress in the instalment of a power transmission line system and transformer stations.

According to an Electricity of Viet Nam (EVN) report, until the end of 2010, no work had started on the 220kV power system. Only around 13 per cent of the 110kV transmission line had been completed while system upgrades made up only around 80 per cent of the original plan.

Deputy Director of the National Power Transmission Company Truong Quoc Lam pointed out that the Son La Electric Plant was available to supply the city with power. However, there was still no way of transmitting power to Ha Noi due to incomplete line systems at Van Tri-Soc Son and Van Tri-Chem.

To make matters worse, the city's demand for power was expected to increase by 12.7 per cent annually over the next five years, resulting in severe overload, said Deputy Director of Ha Noi Electricity Bui Duy Dung.

Peak power demand might increase by around 20 per cent next year, causing up to 159 per cent overload on some transformers and transmission lines, he added. During the past summer, the system operated at up to 90 per cent of its capacity on some days, which meant large-scale power cuts in case a transformer kicked it, Dung said.

"If no additional 220kV-transformer stations were put into operation next year, power supply would be a real headache," Lam emphasized. The slow progress of power projects have been heavily influenced by delayed land clearance, he said.

According to Lam, disagreement on compensation related to clearing land was a huge problem alongside the necessity of adjusting power line design to ensure planning correspondence and efficiency. Progress in transmission line instalment depended on the speed of other projects, he explained.

In addition, some power lines had to be installed underground, pushing costs up by considerable margins, making things tight for a cash strapped EVN, Dung noted.

"Speeding up the implementation of power projects to ensure power sufficiency for Ha Noi is extremely urgent," Lam stressed. If nothing were done, the capital would fail to support the growth of its gross domestic product (GDP), set to increase by 12 – 13 per cent per year over the coming five years.

In order to move forward, EVN Ha Noi has proposed that the local People's Committee offer preferential loans to develop the city's grid while calling on people to make greater efforts in power savings.

By LM

Power cuts to hit capital next year

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