~ Le Viêt Nam, aujourd'hui. ~
The Vietnam News

[Year 1997]
[Year 1998]
[Year 1999]
[Year 2000]
[Year 2001]

Blackouts increase as Vietnam power crunch bites


HANOI - Drought and plunging water levels in key reservoirs could leave Vietnam in the dark as electricity shortfalls widen, power officials said on Wednesday.
Vietnam depends on hydroelectric power generation for 63 percent of its electricity, but with a prolonged dry season and sweltering summer heat, state power monopoly Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) is calling for thrift in consumption.
``We are calling for the entire people to practice strict thrift in power consumption so as not to let water levels in reservoirs fall to dead levels,'' Bui Thuc Khiet, EVN's deputy director, told Reuters.
Water levels at the country's largest power plant, the Hoa Binh hydro scheme in northern Vietnam, on Wednesday stood just 6.8 metres above the lowest permissible level of 80 metres and four metres lower than the level on the same date last year, EVN statistics showed.
Hoa Binh supplies southern parts of the country, including Ho Chi Minh City, through a north-south high voltage power line.
Officials at the plant indicated the power situation was fast becoming critical.
EVN announced on Wednesday it would black out parts of Hanoi and would be forced to reduce daily power supply to the city formerly called Saigon by 0.5 million kilowatt hours (kwh) to 15.5 million kwh.
``The situation now is worse than the same period last year. We are calling for thrift...but there is no hope at the moment for rain,'' a power official in Ho Chi Minh City said.
He added that if rains did not come by May 20, power supplies to some city areas would have to be cut. Illuminated advertising hoardings would be targeted and street lamps would be dimmed, he said.
In Hanoi, local television has called for cuts in electricity consumption during peak evening hours. State-run companies have been told not to use air-conditioners unless absolutely necessary.
EVN's Khiet was quoted in the official Saigon Times Daily as saying that if the five biggest hydro plants continued generating at full capacity, operations would have to be suspended by May 20.
Vietnam currently has 12 power stations. Electricity demand is expected to rise by at least 11.6 percent annually between now and 2010.
The country generated around 19.7 billion kwh in 1997 and is aiming for a capacity of between 26 and 29 billion kwh by 2000.

By Andy Soloman - REUTERS, May 6, 1998.