Demand for electricity this year may surpass 2012 as the industrial production sector begins a likely recovery, an official from Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has predicted.
Speaking at a conference on 2013 plans in Hanoi on January 11, EVN Deputy General Director Dinh Quang Tri said the power system is still capable of supplying the economy and domestic market without sudden changes in hydrology and problems at big plants.
However, the North-South power transmission system and the southern electricity system could face overload, during which, those in the south could face an unbalanced supply-demand at some stages of the year, he said.
Furthermore, all power plants will join the competitive power generation market this year, making power system management more complicated, Tri added.
To ensure the plan to produce and buy more than 130.5 billion kWh of electricity, (an 11 per cent increase on 2012), EVN has added over 2,300 MW of capacity to all sources since last month. The group has also put a number of transmission and distribution grids into its system to ensure regular supply for southern areas.
Speaking at the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai reiterated that EVN needed to ensure enough water for agricultural production and disburse VND106 trillion ($5 billion) of investment this year.
He also urged the group to focus on human resources development and work seriously on the earthquake problem at Song Tranh hydro power plant, which had raised concerns among local people in central Quang Nam province.
The Deputy PM asked the group to especially pay more attention to recycle energy source development to ensure future energy security while taking climate change into account.
Last year, EVN produced 54.4 billion kWh, which was nearly 3.6 billion kWh more than planned. It was reported to have reduced losses from 2011 by VND3.5 trillion ($167 million).
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