Northern Vietnam faces the risk of 4900 megawatts of power shortage in this 2023 dry season
According to EVN's calculations, the northern power system faces a shortage risk of 1600 to 4900 megawatts in
Over the past two weeks, the power shortage crisis has spread across all fields and industries in the North. Mr Nguyen Minh Chau, Director of Hanoi CNC Precision Mechanic Company (Quang Minh Industrial Park, Me Linh, Hanoi), shared that the power outage burdens businesses in the context of the unfavourable capital market.
2023 is when businesses are exhausted because of hunger for orders, lack of capital, and high input costs. Statistics by the end of May show that more than 88,000 businesses have left the market; A survey by VnExpress and the Research and Development Board of the Private Economy (Board IV) with nearly 10,000 businesses also showed that 82% expected to reduce the scale, suspend or stop doing business in the remaining months of the year.
This year's economic recession led to a decrease in orders. Suppose you are lucky enough to have an order, project, or request, a short, urgent schedule. However, the unexpected loss of production power or untimely notice makes businesses passive, makes it difficult to complete orders on time, and losing customer credibility.
According to Mr Chau, electricity is an extremely important input factor in production. But the current reduction in load will cause businesses to face many difficulties in the post-Covid-19 recovery period.
Mr Vu Khac Tiep, Deputy Director of Song Phuong Production and Trading Joint Stock Company, said that the power outage adds to the burden on businesses when they want to get up after the epidemic.
He said that to improve production capacity, Song Phuong modernized the factory last year, so 90% of the lines used electricity. The recent power outage has reduced the production capacity of enterprises by 40%.
Power outages also cause other business expenses to spike. Workers must take a break between production shifts while businesses still have to pay wages, arranging overtime to work overtime, leading to increased labour costs.
Shortly, this business has the order to go to China and Europe, but instead of being happy, Mr Tiep expressed concern because the production fall point is right at the peak of the hot sun, the possibility of long power outages, thicker density, may affect the quality and cost of goods. According to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the North is currently at risk of a "shortage of electricity most hours of the day" due to demand exceeding the available capacity of all sources (including imported electricity). It is estimated that each day lacks 30.9 million kWh, and the highest day can reach 50.8 million kWh. If the power outage lasts, the possibility of losing contracts to businesses in the southern market is very large.
Not only domestic manufacturing enterprises are struggling, but many large FDI enterprises also suffer when production stops, and costs increase when electricity flickers.
Speaking to VnExpress, Mr Hong Sun, Chairman of the Korean Business Association in Vietnam (Kocham), said a series of Korean businesses suffer from power outages 2-3 times per week.
The number of power outages accounted for half a working week. It caused businesses to be unable to produce, orders to be delayed, and machinery and goods to be damaged while fixed costs still had to be paid. The Korean business community assesses these things as causing no small damage.
Korean businesses are worried that they may have to compensate if the delivery is late. Many businesses are afraid of prolonged power outages. They still endure a few days to a month, but continuously reducing the power by 40-50% is dangerous. Currently, the association representing nearly 10,000 Korean businesses in Vietnam has submitted a petition to Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh to take remedial measures.
The service sector was similarly affected by the outage. Mr Pham Quoc Long, Chairman of the Vietnam Association of Agents, Brokers and Maritime Services, said that the lack of electricity caused the seaports in the North to be congested with goods, causing damage to many parties.
For example, Hai Phong port will clear about 15,000 TEUs (15,000 20-foot containers), equivalent to 8-9 ships on a normal day. Loading and unloading time is about 20 hours for one vessel.
Ships entering the wharf without electricity to serve will cause congestion of goods. Damage to ports and shipping lines is about 30,000-40,000 USD per ship. Every day about 20-30 ships are coming in and out. The damage is not small.
Besides, he says ports have invested heavily in high technology, using electricity instead of gasoline, at huge costs. Therefore, frequent power cuts directly affect each port's production and business activities and the reputation of seaport service quality compared to the region and may lead to a loss of confidence in the national energy security system.
Supermarkets and commercial centres were also disrupted because of power outages. Ms Nguyen Thi Bich Van, Communications Director of Central Retail Group, said that since the beginning of the summer, Electricity in Cau Giay district, Hanoi, has been cut power twice at Big C Thang Long trade centre. The reason for the power cut was "to reduce the load for about 2 hours".
The power cut has led to Big C using the generator system, cutting down the air conditioning system in most of the Mall area, and even turning off the Toaster and Chicken oven systems. This affects the production and business of supermarkets.
AEON Long Bien Trade Center also had power cuts twice in early June. A business representative said that when the power goes out, the generator will operate to maintain the refrigerator, freezer, lighting system, etc. Cashier at the supermarket. However, some stalls had to close or suspend operations in the commercial centre area due to insufficient electricity, and the air conditioning system needed to be maintained as usual.
To cope with the power shortage in the immediate future, production and service businesses focus on cutting down, saving energy, rearranging production, and finding sharing from customers.
Mr Chau said that Hanoi CNC is minimizing the use of electricity in the factory; adjusting the working schedule of employees to overcome and maintain production activities partially; Please extend the order execution time within the allowed range. Song Phuong Company is also looking for a way to arrange rotating shifts, cutting some stages from machinery to manual work.
Mr Tran Van Nam, General Director of MBT Electronic Equipment Joint Stock Company, said that to maintain customer credibility during a prolonged power outage, the enterprise will invest in more generators to ensure progress. However, he said, this solution is only temporary when it is necessary to invest in generator operating costs, affecting production costs and production and business efficiency of enterprises.
Meanwhile, the General Director of Sao Viet Mechanical Technology Joint Stock Company (Savimec), Ngo Sach Vinh, shared that the unit began considering self-investing in renewable energy to meet the production plan. , timely delivery. However, it will increase the selling price of products and reduce competition.
Businesses all have the same proposal to expect the Government to end the power cut to ensure stable demand for production activities. In force majeure, enterprises wish to have a specific and precise early notice schedule for power cuts to be proactive in production and business.
