People and businesses are worried about the risk of power shortages.

Factories and production facilities are worried about power outages.

Nghe An has recently experienced several severe heat waves, with the hydroelectric dam reservoir falling below the dead water level, increasing the risk of power shortages. Dien Chau district currently has many production and business establishments and factories worried about power outages during the hot season.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Tra, owner of Phung Tra frozen seafood business, Trung Yen hamlet, Dien Ngoc commune shared: "My family has 2 cold storages containing dozens of tons of seafood such as mackerel, shrimp, squid imported from all over the country. The value of seafood is over 5 billion VND/freezer. To ensure the quality of seafood, the temperature in the warehouse must always be -18 degrees Celsius to -22 degrees Celsius.

Workers are transporting seafood at the Phung Tra frozen seafood business in Trung Yen hamlet, Dien Ngoc commune. Photo: Van Truong

However, the sudden power outage in recent days in some areas of Dien Chau district has made my family very worried."

Ms. Tra said that recently in Dien Chau there has been a power outage, which has affected business activities to some extent. We do not dare to open the freezer to sell goods. Specifically, a power outage lasting 2-3 hours will cause the quality of seafood products to be poor, or if the power outage lasts 8-10 hours, the seafood products will be damaged.

A representative of Wooin Vina Garment Factory (Korea) in Dien Hong Commune, Dien Chau also knew that the factory has over 2,000 employees, consuming about 140,000 kWh per month. If there is a power shortage, it will delay the progress of orders and reduce revenue.

Wooin Vina Garment Factory (Korea) in Dien Hong Commune, Dien Chau Province changed over 7,500 ballast bulbs to LED bulbs to save electricity. Photo: Van Truong

To proactively handle the risk of power outages, the factory has purchased two more generators and implemented energy-saving solutions such as upgrading the lighting system and air compression system. In particular, the lighting system with over 7,500 ballast-based bulbs has now been replaced with LED bulbs, and the electronic motors of the sewing machine system have been replaced.

In 4 production departments, there are 2 departments, packaging, that reduce the number of light bulbs. Thanks to the above solutions, the factory saves over 70 million VND in electricity bills per month.

According to Dien Chau Electricity, the whole district has 105,000 customers, consuming over 600 million kWh/month during the hot season. Of which, the whole district has 4 units that consume a lot of electricity including: Muong Thanh Eco-tourism Area, Dien Lam; Nam Thuan Garment Factory, Wooin Vina; Dien Hong Iron Smelter, Dien Thinh Glass Smelter. In addition, the whole district also has many seafood processing facilities and other business services.

In Do Luong district, many manufacturing and trading enterprises are also worried about the risk of power shortage. A representative of the clean water factory in Hoa Son commune, Do Luong said: The factory has a capacity of 10,000 m³/day and night, consuming 26,000 kWh/month, providing clean water to people in 14 communes of Do Luong district. Recently, there has been a power outage of 2-3 hours, somewhat affecting the pumping of water to serve the people.

Hoa Son clean water plant, Do Luong, pumps water during off-peak hours. Photo: Van Truong

To cope with the power shortage, the factory has prepared 2 diesel generators. During the factory operation, electricity is saved by pumping water during off-peak hours, turning off the air conditioning system in the rooms, using solar power in some areas of the factory, etc.

Do Luong district has many factories that consume a lot of electricity, such as Song Lam Cement Factory in Bai Son commune, which consumes 20 million kWh/month, equivalent to 30 billion VND in electricity, along with 3 garment factories in the area...

In addition, the risk of power shortage also affects agricultural production. Mr. Nguyen Xuan Son, Hung Thanh commune, Hung Nguyen district - owner of a melon growing facility shared: The facility has 1,000m² greenhouse growing high-tech agricultural varieties, over 700 melon trees and grapes, in hot weather, it is mandatory to water the plants.

"I am using a drip irrigation system so I need electricity to pump water up from the source, and use the system to water the plants. In the past few days, there have been times when there have been power outages, forcing me to water by hand, which is very difficult, even though this method of watering is not very effective for the plants," said Mr. Son.

The risk of power shortage will affect water pumping on the pumping station system on the Do Luong canal through Yen Thanh district. Photo: Van Truong

Dai Hue Agricultural Cooperative, Nam Dan District specializes in closed-loop production of cassava flour and turmeric starch from the stage of bringing raw materials to finished products through many stages such as washing, milling, separating, drying, packaging... All of which require the use of machinery. A representative of Dai Hue Agricultural Cooperative added: If there is no electricity, the system will have to stop working, and signed orders cannot be distributed to customers in time.

Nghe An currently has over 500 electric pumping stations located along the Lam River system in Nam Dan, Thanh Chuong, Do Luong districts, and the Con River in Tan Ky district... If there is a power shortage, it will affect the irrigation water supply for the land preparation and summer-autumn rice crop.

Strengthening energy saving solutions

According to the forecast of the hydrometeorological agency, the hot weather will continue to last in the coming time, and the electricity supply will face many difficulties. To strengthen operations and ensure electricity supply for people's daily life and production and business enterprises, localities in the province are strengthening solutions.save electricity.

Some supermarkets in Vinh City practice electricity saving. Photo: Quang An

Like Do Luong district, the electricity management unit has strengthened the response and timely repair work when incidents occur, and notified customers when the power grid must be cut off. The district has built 30 new transformer stations to supplement the 0.4 kV lines. It has limited the maximum use of public power sources, and encouraged people to limit the use of large power-consuming devices during peak hours such as air conditioners, water heaters, electric irons, etc.

In Dien Chau district, the electricity sector contacted large production customers and requested appropriate production coordination to prioritize ensuring electricity supply for people, hospitals, and local agencies. Before the hot season, Dien Chau upgraded 6 new transformer stations.

In order to save electricity, Nghe An Electricity Company has increased inspection of the power grid, detected weak points for timely handling. Coordinated with manufacturing enterprises with large electricity consumption to implement electricity saving solutions such as: reasonable production arrangement, limiting high-capacity electrical equipment during peak hours; stopping unnecessary loads; reasonable electricity saving in urban lighting, billboards, etc.

Water in Hua Na hydroelectric reservoir is 10-15cm above dead water level. Photo: Van Truong

Faced with prolonged heat, water shortages and increased loads, Nghe An's electricity sector hopes for the cooperation of businesses, units, local authorities and people of all walks of life to make efforts to save electricity to the maximum and reasonably, in order to ensure grid safety and stable power supply for production and daily life.