Northern Vietnam Risks Power Dearth Amid Hot Season: VnExpress

State utility Vietnam Electricity Group warned of electricity shortages in the northern part of the country at the same time that thermal power and supplies of coal and gas are squeezed, news website VnExpress reported.

(Bloomberg) — State utility Vietnam Electricity Group warned of electricity shortages in the northern part of the country at the same time that thermal power and supplies of coal and gas are squeezed, news website VnExpress reported.

Northern Vietnam could be short by as much as 4,900 megawatts in May and June, according to the report, citing information from the ultility known as EVN. Consumption capacity in the northern provinces is expected to increase by 15% from a year earlier during the May-July period as the area enters its hot season, the report said.

Temperatures are expected to increase at the same time the El Nino weather pattern may reduce rainfall, and thus cut supplies of water to the hydroelectric reservoirs in the later months of the year. Flow to these lakes has already been light at around 70% to 90% of the average, according to the report.

The remaining output in the whole system’s reservoirs is estimated at about 4.5 billion kWh, about 4.1 billion kWh lower than the same period last year, the report said, citing EVN.

EVN had said in December that top coal supplier Vinacomin and thermal power plants had low coal inventories as of the end of 2022, which will affect power plants’ electricity generation especially in first half of this year amid expected high demand.

Dong Bac Corporation, under the Ministry of National Defense, and Vinacomin are capable of providing 46 million tons of coal for electricity production, 6 million tons less than planned. Coal imports have been pressured by market and infrastructure conditions, the VnExpress report said.

Gas output this year is expected to drop 18.8% from last year to 5.6 billion cubic meters, according to the report.

There are already signs that power needs may surge in the region because of the weather. The northern and central provinces of Vietnam experienced a heat wave on May 5 and 6, with the temperature reaching a record high of 44.1C (111.4F) in Thanh Hoa province Saturday, the health ministry’s publication Suc Khoe Doi Song reported.

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