Hanoi (VNA) – The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT), the Vietnam Electricity(EVN), and experts shared the view that power supply will bebasically guaranteed this year, but the challenge is that demand is forecast to surgeamid the post-pandemic economic recovery.

NguyenQuoc Trung, Deputy Director of the National Load Dispatch Centre, said in the2022 plan on power supply and the national electricity system operations, theMoIT assigned the EVN to ensure safe and stable national power grid operations.

Thisyear’s power demand is predicted to be at about 275.5 billion kWh,corresponding to the GDP growth target of 6 - 6.5%.

Generally speaking, the sector is completely capable of meeting power demand inthe central and southern regions, but difficulties may appear in certain pointsof time in the northern region, particularly in the peak months of the hotseason, he said.

The EVN hasbuilt power supply scenarios and coordinated with relevant units and customersto carry out different measures to ensure safe operations, adding supplysources, improving transmission capacity, and encouraging efficient electricityuse, Trung noted.

Heelaborated that the State-owned group is boosting communications to encouragecustomers to use energy-saving devices, adopt power efficiency practices, andreduce consumption demand. These are particularly effective and cost-saving aspower shortages should only occur in certain points of time.

It is importantto maintain high water levels in hydropower reservoirs in the latter half ofthe dry season to boost the system’s capacity, improve the transmissioncapacity of the arterial 500kV power lines from the central region to thenorth, and negotiate electricity import in the hot season. It is also needed to coordinate with the parties concerned to guarantee fuel supply forcoal-fired power plants so that they can operate at full capacity.

The EVN isspeeding up large power generation and grid projects, especially plants in thenorth and the transmission projects linking the northern and central regions,while increasing electricity import for the northern region. Besides, it is considering energy storage systems and facilitating the development ofrenewable energy in the north, Trung went on.

The firmhas also called for coordination from power plants and suppliers of fuel forelectricity production to help achieve the targets.

TheNational Load Dispatch Centre predicted that the northern region may encountersupply difficulties between now and 2025, mostly because the additional powergeneration each year is unable to keep up with demand growth during thisperiod.

Accordingto the draft eighth National Power Development Plan, peak demand during 2022 -2025 will rise by 2,830 MW annually on average while power generation willincrease by only 1,565 MW per annum.

However,Trung held that such difficulties will only appear during prolonged heat wavesin the latter stage of the dry season, leading to a surge in electricityconsumption.

In a recent report, the MoIT said power production andimport between January and May reached an estimated 108.7 billion kWh, up4% year on year. It was 109 million kWh less than the yearly plan.

The EVN noted the production and import will reach 166.6 billion kWh in theremaining months, bringing the total in 2022 to 275.4 billion kWh, up 7.9%compared to 2021.

Reporting on the first quarter’s business results, thegroup said its system produced 23.45 billion kWh of electricity in Marchand 63.03 billion kWh in Q1, respectively up 4.9% and 7.8% year on year.

In Q1, 16.48 billion kWh came from hydropower plants, 28.37 billion kWhfrom thermalpower plants, 7.56 billion kWh from gas-fired power turbines,and 10.01 billion kWh from renewable energy, respectively accounting for 26.1%,45%, 12%, and 15.9% of the total output./.