The southern region could experience power shortages in the next three weeks due to low coal supplies at the region's key thermal power plants, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) said. Coal mine production in Quang Ninh province, which supplies most of the country's thermal power plants, has been halted due to prolonged rain and flooding. The mines are still inundated with water, though the storms ended. At a conference on August 6, EVN General Director Dang Hoang An said the coal at Duyen Hai 1 and Vinh Tan 2 thermal power plants would only last the region 10 days. "There are only 122,000 tonnes of coal left in Duyen Hai 1's storage and about 48,000 tonnes in Vinh Tan 2's," he said. EVN Chairman Duong Quang Thanh said weak capacity of nearby ports and improper usage of vessels was also to blame for the short supply. EVN leaders required the Vietnam National Coal Mineral Industries Group (Vinacomin) to switch the coal supply to thermal power plants in the north such as Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Thai Binh, Nghi Son to Vinh Tan 2 and Duyen Hai 1 plants in the next days. EVN would purchase 30,000 more tonnes of coal from the Ministry of National Defence's Dong Bac Corporation for production and would import more in the event of a shortage, he said. About 11 million tonnes of coal would be needed to produce 23 billion kWh of power from now on until the end of the year, An said. Vinacomin Director Dang Thanh Hai said by the first of this month there were 7 million tonnes of coal left in storage. This amount would be transported to the plants for electricity production. The corporation would continue building a coal storage centre in the Mekong Delta region and hire the Vinh Tan 2 Plant facility to store coal in the south.-VNA