Meeting customer needs during the summer season.

(Baonghean)Since the beginning of the year, favorable weather conditions have enabled power plants to operate, along with the commissioning of several hydropower projects. According to the leaders of Nghe An Power Company, the power supply will be stable in the coming period, and the electricity sector will meet the needs of customers.

Currently, Nghe An Power Company has over 520,000 customers, of which nearly 60% use electricity for consumption and lighting, 30% for industrial production, and 10% for other service sectors. This uneven distribution has caused changes in the load profile throughout the year (only 3.5 million kWh/day in winter, while 6 million kWh/day in summer). Therefore, Nghe An Power Company always has to plan its electricity supply and distribution accordingly for each specific period.

Generator set at Ban Ve Hydropower Plant

In the first quarter of 2012, a period of high electricity demand, Nghe An Power Company received nearly 328.5 million kWh and promptly met customer needs. The prolonged hot weather has led to a surge in demand, creating significant pressure on the power sector. To address this situation, the power sector has planned to receive over 401 million kWh. Mr. Banh Hong Hien, Deputy Director of Nghe An Power Company, said: "To prepare well for serving customers during this peak season, in addition to planning for the rational reception and supply of electricity, the power sector has also invested in replacing some large transformer substations in Nghe An. At the power distribution units, measures are being implemented to rotate electricity and prevent overload. All maintenance and repair work, as well as periodic testing, will be completed this April, and thus will basically meet the electricity needs of customers during the summer of 2012."

In the mountainous district of Kỳ Sơn, due to the sole power supply from the 110kV substation in Hòa Bình town being severely affected by the 2011 floods, efforts are underway to complete the construction of a sustainable power system (located far from landslide-prone areas) and gradually provide stable, high-quality electricity. In other localities throughout the province, electricity demand is high, especially in areas with complex weather patterns and prolonged heatwaves, but the quality of electricity remains low and the power supply is unstable. To gradually overcome this situation, the electricity sector is actively taking over the rural electricity system, investing in and upgrading substations, power grids, meters, etc., to improve electricity quality. Good news for rural customers: the electricity sector is currently actively preparing the necessary conditions to implement a project to improve the efficiency of the rural power grid in the second quarter, with a total investment of approximately 740 billion VND (funded by the German Reconstruction Bank). With this project, the quality of electricity in rural areas will be significantly improved in the near future.

One advantage for Nghe An's electricity sector is that, in recent years, the province has implemented many open mechanisms and policies to attract investment projects in hydropower development. To date, there are 32 hydropower projects underway in the province, of which 4 have already started generating electricity with a total capacity of 342.5 MW (Ban Ve 320 MW, Ban Coc 18 MW, Sao Va 3 MW, Ban Canh 1.5 MW). At the Ban Ve hydropower plant, from the beginning of 2012 to the present, more than 286 million kWh have been connected to the national power grid. In the future, the completion of several more hydropower projects will contribute to ensuring a stable and high-quality power supply for customers.

Hoang Vinh