Van Nam
The corporation has urged power companies in 21 southern localities to work with manufacturers to prepare power use reduction plans to cope with possible electricity shortages in the dry season.
Big power consumers have to report their electricity use plans to power companies. When signing new contracts, power companies and customers will have to negotiate on cutting power consumption by 10% or 15% in case demand outpaces supply.
In the dry season two years ago, the corporation notified 6,000 industrial manufacturing companies in 21 provinces and cities in the southern region to save power so that power consumption could be cut by 10-15%. Around 200 out of the 6,000 companies are steel and cement makers.
If producers can reduce electricity consumption by 10% in peak hours, about 610MW could be saved, 1.5 times of the capacity of Tri An hydropower plant.
Cement factories can save up 30-40% of power consumption while steel makers can reduce by up to 25-30%, according to experts.
Early this year, Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) said it would accelerate the implementation of many major power works such as Duyen Hai 1 thermal power plant, the second generator of O Mon 1 thermal power plant and Dong Nai 5 hydropower plant to meet electricity demand for household use and production in the southern region during the dry months.
The region’s power backup capacity has stayed low in the past years, with some months even having supply-power imbalances at times.
The aforementioned power projects are expected to serve as backup power supply though the power demand of the southern region exclusive of HCMC is forecast to jump 9.5% this year.
Regarding power supply for islands in the region, the corporation said it is working to supply adequate power to the island districts of Phu Quoc, Kien Hai, Phu Quy and Con Dao during this dry season.
Total power consumption of 21 southern localities, excluding HCMC, rose to nearly 45 billion kWh last year. The consumption volume of HCMC alone was around 18 billion kWh.
Sixteen enterprises and State agencies signed commitment agreements to reduce electricity consumption early last month and there will be 200 more enterprises to make such a commitment in August.
Nearly 13.7 million tons of cement, clinker consumed in Q1
Nearly 13.7 million tons of cement and clinker were consumed in quarter one, down 9% from last year’s same period and equivalent to 19% of the year’s target, according to the Building Materials Department.
As of last month, cement inventories nationwide were around 2.8 million tons, with Vietnam Cement Industry Corporation (Vicem) accounting for nearly 1.7 million tons.
Though cement consumption in the year’s first months is modest, the department forecast the cement price could pick up slightly this month due to power and fuel price hikes.
Earlier, Vietnam set a target of selling 72-74 million tons of cement and clinker this year, with around 20 million tons for export.
Đăng ký: VietNam News