“The country needs electricity like the body needs blood”! (Part 2)

Precious electricity is not only invested with large capital, but also "exchanged" with sweat, sacrifice, sometimes even... blood of those involved. However, having electricity is difficult, using electricity safely, economically and effectively is even more important. In the structure of electricity consumption of the whole country in general and Thanh Hoa in particular, about 60% is electricity for industrial production. The cooperation of enterprises in managing electricity demand and using electricity economically is one of the effective solutions, both benefiting enterprises and joining hands with the electricity industry and the State to overcome difficulties.

Nong Cong Operation Center staff check the safety of transmission system equipment.

Large businesses volunteer

Thanh Hoa is currently the leading cement producer in the country, with a total capacity of 24.4 million tons/year. Meanwhile, cement production is one of the industries that consumes record amounts of electricity. However, all four cement companies in the area are willing to participate in the demand side management (DSM) and load adjustment (DR) programs as encouraged by Thanh Hoa Electricity Company.

Long Son Cement Company (Bim Son town) is currently using a power source with a total installed capacity of 153.8 MW. According to the factory's production director Truong Van Loi, when the production lines operate at full capacity, the total electricity consumption of the company is up to 500 - 600 million kW each year. In terms of money, the company has to spend up to 700 - 800 billion VND on electricity each year. "The cost of electricity currently accounts for 18 - 20% of the product cost. Therefore, we have sought every method to reduce production costs, thereby increasing the price competitiveness of the product; in which reducing electricity costs is the most focused solution", said Mr. Truong Van Loi.

Along with solutions such as installing additional frequency converters for motors to reduce power consumption; replacing old machines with modern technology that consumes less energy. From 2019 to present, Long Son Cement Company has maintained the signing of a memorandum of understanding and voluntarily participated in the DSM/DR program.

The DSM program is a set of technical - technological - economic - social solutions to support customers and power units to produce, trade and use electricity efficiently and economically. The DSM program includes indirect and direct activities of electricity customers and that process is encouraged by electricity suppliers (supply side) through policy mechanisms with the goal of redistributing electricity load demand during peak hours, off-peak hours and normal hours to contribute to leveling the electricity load curve, increasing the electricity load factor of the power system and optimizing energy efficiency.

“In terms of how to do it, there will be close sharing and coordination between the enterprise and the supply side, Thanh Hoa Electricity Company. During the peak season from April to July every year, the enterprise will proactively calculate the most suitable and optimal operation of the production line system to proactively shift production from peak to off-peak hours, limiting the operation of unnecessary equipment during the time frames of 9:30 - 11:30 and 17:00 - 20:00. This not only contributes to reducing the maximum capacity of the load, but also helps the enterprise save 15 - 20% of electricity costs for price differences. In particular, during the times of intense and widespread heat this summer, on June 19-20, the company participated in adjusting the electricity load twice with each time the regulated capacity was 30 MW during the evening peak hours, contributing to reducing pressure on the power system at this time," Production Director Truong Van Loi added.

As the "youngest" enterprise in the Thanh Hoa cement industry, right after its stable operation, from 2024, Dai Duong Cement Joint Stock Company (Nghi Son Economic Zone) also participated in the DR program when it was deployed by Thanh Hoa Electricity Company. Mr. Pham Duc Luyen, Deputy Production Director in charge of the factory of Dai Duong Cement Joint Stock Company, shared: "The company's electricity output this year doubled compared to the same period due to the completion and synchronous operation of the production lines. With a large consumption output, the company identifies saving electricity as a continuous and especially important task".

“We arrange a reasonable production plan, shift the capacity of using equipment with large power consumption such as fan motors, water pumping stations, air compressors... during peak noon hours (from 12:00 - 15:00) and peak evening hours (from 21:00 - 24:00), minimizing the use of electrical equipment without load....", Deputy Production Director Pham Duc Luyen added.

Along with cement, steel production also consumes a lot of electricity. At VAS Nghi Son Group Joint Stock Company (Nghi Son Economic Zone), the DR program has also been accompanied by the electricity industry since 2019. According to Deputy General Director of VAS Nghi Son Group Joint Stock Company Trinh The Dung, as a large electricity user, with electricity consumption in 2023 of nearly 832 million kWh, VAS Nghi Son understands the importance of electricity in production. Therefore, in recent years, the company has always coordinated well with the electricity industry to save electricity as well as participate in the DR program.

Demand Response (DR) is one of the electricity demand management programs that encourages customers to proactively reduce their electricity consumption from the national electricity system according to electricity price signals or incentive mechanisms when requested by the unit implementing the electricity load response program. Implementing DR, simply understood, is to encourage business customers to limit their electricity usage during peak hours and switch to off-peak hours.

“Before the hot season, the company and Thanh Hoa Electricity Company had a direct working session to develop a plan for electricity use and a plan for capacity regulation. Limiting electricity use during peak hours will help the power system maintain a stable operating state. When the quality of electricity and reliability of power supply are guaranteed, the factory's production activities will also be more favorable. On June 19, VAS participated in adjusting the electricity load once with a regulated capacity of 45 MW during the evening peak hours, equivalent to 40% of the company's total capacity usage,” said Mr. Trinh The Dung.

In addition, to proactively plan production operations during the hot season, VAS Nghi Son has proactively developed solutions for economical and efficient use of electricity, ensuring the correct use of capacity and load chart registered in the power purchase contract; shifting the capacity of equipment with large power consumption such as fan motors, water pumping stations, air compressors, etc.

New mission effective, much potential

The DSM/DR program has been applied by many countries around the world for many years. In Vietnam, the DR program is implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Trade according to Circular 23/2017/TT-BCT, which requires the Vietnam Electricity Group and related individuals and organizations to implement it, especially customers on the list of "key energy users".

The key target of the DSM/DR program is key energy customers with consumption of 1 million kWh/year or more, including customers on the list of key energy users according to the annual decision issued by the Prime Minister.

Nationwide, thanks to the support of more than 13,000 large electricity-using enterprises implementing the DSM/DR program - by limiting and reducing electricity use during peak hours to shift to using electricity during off-peak hours, it has contributed to cutting peak load capacity of the national power system, helping to use electricity efficiently, ensuring electrical safety, especially during peak times in the dry season (from April to July every year) when electricity demand increases.

According to Thanh Hoa Electricity Company, to implement this program, every year, the company has proactively worked with large customers with electricity consumption of 1 million kWh/year or more to promote and request customers to participate in load adjustment programs, shifting loads away from peak hours. Currently, the whole province has 209/209 large industrial production customers participating in this program.

This summer, based on the directives of the Government, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the People's Committee of Thanh Hoa province, the Vietnam Electricity Group and the Northern Power Corporation, Thanh Hoa Power Company organized a Customer Conference on electricity supply, electricity demand management and electricity saving in 2024. This is not only an opportunity for the company to share information on the results of electricity supply in 2023 and the plan for 2024, but also an opportunity for the unit to discuss and find solutions with customers to improve efficiency in coordinating to participate in the load adjustment program to join hands with the electricity industry to ensure national energy security.

“We have proactively informed about the electricity supply situation, plans to ensure electricity for the hot season of 2024, the DSM/DR program, electricity saving measures as well as discussed and reached agreements with customers in the spirit of understanding, sharing and voluntarily participating in shifting production loads during peak hours in the summer of 2024, ready to operate diesel generators when the electricity supply system encounters difficulties,” said Mr. Hoang Hai, Director of Thanh Hoa Electricity.

Typically, during the extremely hot days that lasted this summer, based on the capacity allocation of the Northern Power Corporation for Thanh Hoa province during peak hours such as noon from 12:00 - 15:00 is 1,250 MW; evening from 21:00 - 24:00 is 1,134 MW. According to the calculation of the dispatch department, Thanh Hoa Power Company, the peak capacity of the entire Thanh Hoa province can reach Pmax and will reach 1,382 MW at noon, Pmax reaches 1,482 MW at night, so the Thanh Hoa province will have to reduce from 132 MW - 348 MW.

Long Son Cement Company cooperates with the electricity industry to forecast, adjust and shift loads, saving electricity.

Based on this basis, to ensure the safety of the power system and stable power supply to serve the daily needs of the people during the hot days, Thanh Hoa Electricity Company has announced and coordinated the implementation of a number of DR events for VAS Nghi Son Joint Stock Company and Long Son Company Limited. The participation of these 110kV customers in the program, cutting 40 - 50% of electricity usage capacity, has contributed to ensuring continuous, stable and safe power supply, while limiting incidents on the power system, improving the quality of services this summer in the province.

Recently, Thanh Hoa Electricity Company also held a conference to thank customers with outstanding achievements in electricity demand management and DR in 2024. The voluntary response of the enterprise has continued to contribute to demonstrating responsibility, spirit of solidarity with the community, building a strong relationship between electricity suppliers and electricity users for the common development of society.

Currently, Vietnam is implementing a voluntary non-commercial DR program. Customers participate in the spirit of cooperation and volunteerism, in return, customers receive a number of benefits such as: being notified of the earliest restoration of power in case of power outage; being included in the list of priority customers to ensure electricity; receiving annual gratitude; free maintenance labor, maintenance of MBAs and other customer care...

The Ministry of Industry and Trade is currently studying the issuance of financial mechanisms to encourage enterprises to participate more actively in DR programs. This is to harmonize the interests between enterprises and the State, attracting intermediary organizations and customers to participate in the DR market in the future. If the mechanisms are implemented more clearly, even "legalized" DSM/DR will encourage and motivate enterprises to invest more in technology and equipment to accompany this program more effectively. This is also the requirement emphasized by the Prime Minister in Decision 279/QD-TTg approving the National Program on Electricity Demand Management for the period 2018-2020, with a vision to 2030, which is "to build and complete a complete legal framework to implement the national program on electricity demand management".

Article and photos: Minh Hang

Lesson 3: Don't let wasting electricity become a "disease".

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/to-quoc-can-dien-nhu-co-the-can-mau-bai-2-chuong-trinh-dsm-dr-ich-loi-doi-ben-221676.htm