Ministry of Industry and Trade informs about the electricity supply situation in 2023

According to Mr. Tran Viet Hoa - Director of the Electricity Regulatory Authority under the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the hot weather and the impact of the El Nino phenomenon occurring in many localities across the country have increased the people's demand for electricity, combined with the very low status of water in hydropower reservoirs, has greatly affected the assurance of electricity supply in the dry season of 2023.

In the past time, under the close direction of the Government, although EVN, PVN, TKV, and relevant ministries and agencies have been making efforts to implement urgent solutions, factors have emerged with a negative influence on the guarantee of sufficient electricity supply in the coming time, especially in the North with the characteristic that hydroelectricity accounts for a large proportion of 43.6%.

More specific information, Mr. Tran Viet Hoa said, as of June 6, 2023, most of the large hydropower reservoirs in the North had reached the dead water level, including Lai Chau, Son La, Tuyen Quang, Ban Chat, Hua Na, Thac Ba. Particularly, two hydropower reservoirs Lai Chau and Son La had to run below the dead water level. Only the Hoa Binh hydropower reservoir has water in the lake and can maintain power generation until about June 12-13.

The total can't be mobilized capacity of the above-mentioned Northern hydropower sources will be at 5,000 MW and possibly up to 7,000 MW when the Hoa Binh hydropower reservoir returns to a dead water level.

Thus, as of June 6, the available capacity of hydroelectricity is 3,110 MW only 23.7% of the installed capacity.

Regarding thermal power sources, with the efforts of relevant units, the supply of coal for thermal power plants has been ensured. Coal-fired power plants have enough fuel to operate with high mobilized capacity.

However, the leader of the Electricity Regulatory Authority said that due to hot weather and high temperature, the units operated at maximum capacity for a long time, leading to equipment problems (mainly steam generator leaks, heater leaks, superheaters, coal mill machines, feed pumps, etc.). In addition, many coal-fired power units suffered from long-term problems (Vung Ang 1 unit, Pha Lai 1 unit, Cam Pha 1 unit, Nghi Son 2 1 unit). Typically, on June 1, the total capacity not mobilized from coal-fired power plants in the North suffered a breakdown and reduced capacity up to 1,030 MW.

Thus, although the coal fuel source for power generation has been supplied relatively securely, as of June 6, the Northern coal-fired thermal power source has only mobilized 11,934MW, accounting for 76.6% of the installed capacity.

Regarding the power grid, the ability to transmit electricity from the Central to the North via the North-Central 500 kV transmission line is always at a high limit (maximum limit from 2,500 MW to 2,700 MW) leading to potential risk of incidents.

Thus, the total available capacity of the Northern power system (including imported electricity) that can be mobilized to meet the power load demand is only 17,500-17,900MW (about 59.2% of the installed capacity). This capacity includes about 2,500 to 2,700 MW of transmission from the South and the Central to the North (line segment 500kV Nho Quan - Ha Tinh).

Meanwhile, the demand for electricity in the North may reach 23,500-24,000 MW in the coming hot days. Thus, the Northern power system will be short of about 4,350 MW with output that cannot meet the daily average of about 30.9 million kWh (the highest day can reach 50.8 million kWh). The Northern electricity system faces the risk of lack of capacity at most hours of the day.

In the face of a situation that is likely to affect the safety of power system operation, Mr. Tran Viet Hoa said that in recent days, EVN had to regulate and reduce the load in the North, on June 5 the total auxiliary capacity The reduced load is 3,609 MW at 16:30, of which the largest reduction in industrial load is about 1,423MW, the largest living load reduction is 1,264MW.

𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞: https://tapchicongthuong.vn/bai-viet/bo-cong-thuong-thong-tin-ve-tinh-hinh-cung-ung-dien-nam-2023-105938.htm