6,000 poor and ethnic minority households will have electricity before the Lunar New Year of the Snake (2013).

According to Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), before the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Snake this year, the Group connected electricity to 6,000 poor and ethnic minority households in remote areas of Dien Bien, Lai Chau, and Son La provinces, and more than 350 households relocated from the Thac Ba reservoir area.

Operating the transmission grid at the 200kV substation. (Photo: Ngoc Ha/VNA)

In the first month of this year, the national power system's output reached 10.44 billion kWh; of which hydropower accounted for 28.1%, coal-fired thermal power 27.1%, and gas-fired thermal power 40.6%, meeting the electricity needs for production, business, and daily life of the people.

Specifically, following the directives of the Government and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, from 6:00 AM on January 22nd to 12:00 AM on January 29th, the Hoa Binh, Thac Ba, and Tuyen Quang hydropower reservoirs operated at high capacity combined with the first phase of water release to serve irrigation for the 2012-2013 Winter-Spring crop in the midland and delta regions of Northern Vietnam. The total amount of water released in the first phase was 1.77 billion m3 with an average discharge rate of 2,559 m3/s; of which, Hoa Binh reservoir accounted for 1.12 billion m3, Thac Ba 266 million m3, and Tuyen Quang 384 million m3.

Thanks to regular dissemination of information and updates on water availability, enabling localities to proactively organize water extraction, by 4 PM on February 3rd, the irrigated area reached 403,000 hectares, equivalent to 63.4% of the total irrigated area.

EVN forecasts that the electricity system's load in February will be around 313 million kWh/day, with peak power fluctuating between 17,300 and 17,500 MW. The goal of operating the electricity system is to maximize the utilization of coal-fired and gas turbine power plants, and to operate hydropower plants according to the water regulation plan for the dry season.

To ensure a safe and stable electricity supply during the 2013 Lunar New Year holiday, EVN requires all units within the industry to urgently finalize plans for electricity supply, arrange duty schedules and operational and maintenance personnel to ensure stable and continuous electricity supply.

In addition, promptly handle any incidents and continue to ensure the electricity supply for water pumping for agricultural production during the 2012-2013 Winter-Spring crop season, phase 2 from February 1st to February 8th; and phase 3 from February 16th to February 23rd, meeting the planting schedule.

According to (VNA) - LT