Good news for people living in Hanoi is that there is no power shortage, although the electricity demand of the people increases in hot days. However, electricity demand spike could create a considerable pressure on power transmission system in Hanoi.

To prevent the overload when demand for electricity sharply increases, Hanoi electricity authority has reinforced the grid system, with installation of more stand-by sub-loads to support the main load when necessary.

Mr. Nguyen Tran Thanh, Power Management Team 1, Tay Ho Power Company, said: "In the summer heat, the electricity demand is extremely high, so we have to be on the site at 3 a.m for fixing and maintenance to avoid blackouts."

Last week, power consumption in Hanoi increased sharply compared to other normal days. The culminating day is May 29, when electricity consumption reached over 61,000 MWH, exceeding 17% power consumption compared with the same period of 2014. Hanoi Power Corporation commits that from now until mid-July, it will manage to ensure no power cut during the days of over 36oC.

Mr. Luong Quang Tuan, Head of Technical Division, Hanoi Power Corporation, said: "During the last week of May, the sunny heat prolonged but the power supply was still very stable and there was no rotating power cuts as it was previously practiced in the past years because the power source had been thoroughly prepared and regulated in the grid by Electricity of Vietnam."

Hanoi Power Corporation also reveals that to ensure demand for electricity, the local electricity units are requested to limit its regular service repairs to keep constant power supply in hot days. But in fact, there were several blackouts locally because the demand for electricity had risen too high, causing overload breakdowns.

So the Hanoi Power Corporation recommends that people should practise economical and efficient use of electricity by limiting the use of many devices at the same time or by turning off unnecessary equipment.

Trong Tan