Nghe An: Ensuring enough electricity during the hot season

(Baonghean) -Mr. Nguyen Thuong Hien - Deputy DirectorNghe An Electricity Company answers interview with Nghe An Newspaper

PV:Could you tell us about the power supply situation in the first 4 months of the year in Nghe An province?

Mr. Nguyen Thuong Hien:In the first 4 months of 2017, in the province, Nghe An Electricity Company has successfully completed the task of supplying electricity, ensuring stable power supply for holidays such as New Year, Lunar New Year, April 30 and May 1, ensuring power supply for important events taking place in the province such as the opening of Cua Lo River Festival, inauguration of important key projects with the participation of Party and State leaders. In addition, the Company has also completed the task of supplying electricity for production and daily activities of people and businesses in the province and will soon ensure power for the National High School Exam.

Anh Son Electricity checks and repairs the power grid system in the area.

The total amount of commercial electricity produced in the first 4 months of the year was nearly 823 million kWh, an increase of 23% over the same period in 2016. Electricity output by 5 specific economic sectors is as follows: Construction industry nearly 392 million kWh, accounting for 47.6%; management and consumption 352 million kWh, accounting for 42.7%; hotels and restaurants more than 34 million kWh; agriculture, forestry and fishery more than 16 million kWh, and other activities 29 million kWh.

By April 2017, the system's Max capacity was 466MW, an increase of 11.93% over the same period in 2016, and the Min capacity was 124MW. The highest daily output was 8.385 million kWh, an increase of 29.66% over the same period in 2016, and the lowest daily output was 5.297 million kWh.

PV:This hot season, the demand for electricity is increasing; can you predict the power supply situation, will it fully meet the needs of production and consumption?

Mr. Nguyen Thuong Hien:According to forecasts, the hot season in 2017 will last longer than every year and thus the power supply situation may be more complicated than in 2016. According to experience in managing and operating long hot spells, high temperatures lead to a sudden increase in power usage, especially in urban areas, towns and cities where population density is high and administrative agencies are concentrated.

The sudden increase in output and operating capacity during heat waves can increase by approximately 20% compared to the same period, so it is necessary to prepare from construction investment, organization in operation management to ensure stable electricity supply. Up to now, Nghe An Electricity Company has made careful preparations and will strive to fully meet the needs of daily life and production in the province.

PV:Specifically, what proactive solutions has the Electricity industry taken, sir?

Mr. Nguyen Thuong Hien:In order to prepare for the stable power supply during the hot season of 2017, Nghe An Electricity Company has planned and implemented specific preparation solutions. That is, sharing the load of the low-voltage grid between transformer stations, transformer stations located close to each other but some are overloaded, some are underloaded. Thoroughly handle the phenomenon of heat generation and poor contact on the low-voltage grid, regularly measure the phase balance current, especially when the power consumption is the highest.

Focus on major and regular repair resources to replace bare wires with coated wires, supplementing them to create 3-phase 4-wire for long, heavy-load 1-phase branches. Build distribution transformer stations on an existing pole to reduce the power supply radius for the low-voltage grid, plan to build and install 30 field distribution transformer stations including voltage levels of 10, 22, 35 kV (using recovered materials). Replace to prevent overload and reduce mass loss of 27,551 meters of low-voltage conductors of all kinds and accompanying accessories, and also utilize recovered materials of good quality to supplement stability for the current grid...

In the investment in construction of overload prevention works at the beginning of the year with 28 investment portfolios and 57 transformer stations. By April 30, the industry had completed construction of 49/57 transformer stations, which are undergoing procedures for energization and will be completed in May 2017 in preparation for the 2017 dry season. Increase 24/24h on-call duty on peak hot days, receive information and immediately organize incident handling for electricity customers. Do not cut off power for repairs or work during hot spells when the temperature in the area is above 360C, all work requiring cut off power for repairs is planned to be carried out after the Lunar New Year.

PV:Although there is no shortage of electricity during the dry season, but the demand is high, besides the proactiveness of the Electricity industry, what should users do to work with the Electricity industry to ensure a safe and economical supply?

Mr. Nguyen Thuong Hien:Electricity is a social resource, to avoid wasteful use, everyone must use it economically and reasonably to minimize energy shortages in daily life and production and business. The Electricity Industry has been implementing many solutions to deal with the above situation; in which using electricity economically and reasonably is a very important measure. The synchronous use of electricity saving solutions from families to agencies and businesses contributes to saving and using electricity most effectively.

Investing in a power station for Hoa Sen Steel Factory. Photo: Chau Lan

However, in addition to the proactiveness of the Electricity industry, the joint contribution and raising awareness of electricity use to ensure a stable power source during the dry season of 2017 is extremely important. For families, it is necessary to pay attention to the use of electrical equipment and the awareness of electricity use of family members, strengthen the maintenance and timely maintenance of equipment and power lines to minimize electricity loss and electrical incidents. Limit the use of high-capacity electricity such as irons, washing machines, water heaters, etc. during peak hours.

When using electrical equipment, it is necessary to pay attention to the method of using high-capacity electrical equipment reasonably, such as air conditioning should be kept at 250C or higher, when leaving the room, turn off the equipment to reduce power consumption and prevent the risk of short circuit and fire... For some areas where local overload may occur during peak hours, the Electricity industry will coordinate with the neighborhood to propagate information on the radio system, when users hear this information, they should coordinate with the Electricity industry to limit the use of electrical equipment for the common benefit of the community.

PV:Thank you very much!

Thu Huyen

(Perform)