Severe drought, hydroelectric reservoir runs dry
These days, Thac Ba Hydropower Plant (Yen Bai) no longer has the image of overflowing water, but instead is the image of drought. The dam bank now only has traces of the time when the water was still immense. For the first time, Thac Ba Hydropower Plant had to stop operating 2/3 of its generators due to lack of water.
Mr. Nguyen Manh Cuong, Deputy General Director of Thac Ba Hydropower Joint Stock Company, shared his concern: The water level at Thac Ba Hydropower Reservoir has been below the dead water level since June 1. Because 2 generators had to stop generating electricity, generator No. 3 operated at a minimum level, so in May, the plant's electricity output was only 1/10 of the same period in 2022 (only 2 million kWh while in May 2022 it was 20 million kWh).
Thac Ba Hydropower Plant is not the only plant that has run out of water. A report on June 8 by the Department of Industrial Safety Techniques and Environment (DAST) of the Ministry of Industry and Trade showed that up to 11 hydropower plants across the country have stopped generating electricity.
Specifically, there are 9 hydroelectric reservoirs at dead water level including: Lai Chau, Son La, Thac Ba, Tuyen Quang, Ban Ve, Hua Na, Trung Son, Thac Mo, Tri An. In addition, there are 11 hydroelectric plants that have to stop generating electricity because the flow and water level of the reservoirs are not guaranteed such as: Son La, Lai Chau, Huoi Quang, Thac Ba, Tuyen Quang, Ban Ve, Hua Na, Trung Son, Tri An, Dai Ninh, Pleikrong.
The recent hot weather has caused the water level in hydroelectric reservoirs to be close to or below the dead water level, greatly affecting the power supply. In the North, except for Hoa Binh Hydroelectric Reservoir, most of the reservoirs are at dead water level.
The inability to mobilize electricity from hydropower plants has affected the management and operation of the power system and the supply of electricity for people's daily life, as well as causing many difficulties for business production.
Mr. Tran Viet Hoa, Director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority (Ministry of Industry and Trade), said: The total available capacity of the Northern power system (including imported electricity) that can be mobilized to meet the electricity load demand is only 17,500-17,900MW (about 59.2% of the installed capacity). This capacity includes about 2,500 to 2,700MW transmitted from the South and Central regions to the North (500kV Nho Quan - Ha Tinh line section).
Meanwhile, the demand for electricity in the Northern region could reach 23,500-24,000MW in the upcoming hot days. Thus, the Northern power system will be short of about 4,350MW, with an average daily output of about 30.9 million kWh (the highest day can reach 50.8 million kWh).
Only Hoa Binh hydropower reservoir still has water in it and can maintain power generation for another week (until June 12-13). The total unmobilized capacity of the above mentioned northern hydropower sources will reach 5,000 MW and may reach 7,000 MW when Hoa Binh hydropower reservoir reaches dead water level.
This huge electricity shortage and the lack of any source to compensate have left the North in a state of "power shortage most hours of the day", as the leader of the Electricity Regulatory Authority warned.
Power shortage due to drought, for now we can only save electricity
Electricity expert Prof. Tran Dinh Long said: This year, the weather conditions are harsh, the Center for Hydrometeorology predicts that our country will be heavily affected by El Nino, with hot weather and drought. The hot weather causes the water source at hydroelectric plants to be too low, unable to meet the demand for electricity production. On the other hand, the hot weather increases the demand for electricity for cooling such as air conditioning, fans, etc.
"This year's heat wave exceeded the forecasting capacity of the electricity industry, as well as other agencies. Therefore, the electricity industry is unable to provide enough capacity to meet demand. At that time, the only solution is to restore the supply-demand balance of the system, to avoid the system collapsing, which is to cut off the power", Professor Tran Dinh Long explained.
In this context, increasing new power sources is an "impossible mission". This cannot be solved overnight. Therefore, experts believe that we can only hope that the North will soon escape the drought and lack of rain.
In the immediate future, an important solution is to promote electricity saving. On June 8, the Prime Minister also issued Directive No. 20/CT-TTg on promoting electricity saving in the period of 2023-2025 and the following years.
Mr. Tran Dinh Nhan, General Director of Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), shared: “Up to now, 63 provinces and cities have implemented instructions on electricity saving. EVN has coordinated through the Northern Power Corporation (EVNNPC), Hanoi Power Corporation and local power companies to carry out reductions in case of power shortages to suit the situation of each locality.
In the Central and Southern regions, electricity supply is guaranteed, but the North is currently facing difficulties from now until the water returns. EVN will try its best to ensure the national power system operates safely. At this time, when demand continues to increase, the power supply is not enough, so at some points we have reduced power.
To allocate capacity and reduce electricity, on June 8, EVN sent an urgent document to the Northern Power Corporation. The Group requested EVNNPC to calculate and allocate capacity to provincial power companies and the principles of regulating and reducing electricity shall be implemented according to the provisions of Circular 34.
EVNNPC was also advised of some principles for calculating adjustment coefficients when allocating available capacity to provincial power companies and directing these companies to develop plans for regulating and reducing electricity.
That is, prioritizing power supply to important power customers approved by the provincial People's Committee; prioritizing power supply to serve important political and social activities and other events in the area. In addition, EVN requires units to base on the socio-economic characteristics of each locality to select priority power supply customers.
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