Electricity of Vietnam Guarantees Economy's Demand of Electricity

In order to maintain the GDP growth of the economy at 8.0 to 8.5 percent, Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) has developed a plan to provide 51 billion kWh of merchant electricity and 59 billion kWh of manufacturing electricity and outside produced electricity. Also, the company has prepared projects to meet the higher demand for electricity. From the achievements it has reached, EVN has preparation for the coming period from 2006-2010.

The core achievement in the past five years (2001 – 2005) of EVN was that the company completed its targets one year and 21 days earlier than the scheduled figures for manufacturing and merchant electricity. Merchant electricity accounts for 15 percent of growth on average, 4 percent higher in comparison with the plan. The growth rate of electricity is twice as high as the economic growth rate.

 

Secondly, EVN has built large electricity industrial zones. By the end of 2005, EVN had completed the Phu My electricity centre with capacity of 3,880 MW, started building and stopped the river to build Son La hydroelectric power plant as scheduled. It is estimated that, the first machinery group will come to effect from 2010, which is two years earlier than the schedule set by the National Assembly.

 

The third achievement saw EVN strongly invest in rural and remote area electricity projects, which increased the rate of people using electricity higher than that of many regional countries with the same or better economic conditions than us.

 

As for the fourth achievement, the investment amount of EVN in five years was above VND92,100 billion; six large power plants with the total capacity of 3,330 MW have come to effect. At the same time, EVN has started 23 projects of electricity sources with the total capacity of 7,500 MW and the total investment capital of more than VND100,000 billion to prepare for the working period of 2006–2010.

 

EVN has also completed the privatisation process for 17 member units and especially completed the project to set up Electricity Corporation to be submitted to the Prime Minister.

 

Also, in the past five years, EVN has overcome difficulties and kept producing with high profits. The total revenue was VND9,350 billion.

 

The seventh achievement is in the electricity mechanical area, EVN has reached a breakthrough in manufacturing technology. EVN has succeeded in the creation of 220/110 kv-125MVA transformers in 2003, and the 220KV – 250 MVA transformers in 2005 and it has repaired the first 500-kV transformer for Yaly power plant. EVN has thousands tonnes of iron poles, wire for the 500 kV Phu My – Thuong Tin line. The eighth achievement was the strong development of project consultancy and management because EVN doesn’t have to employ foreign consultants, even in project of the Southeast Asia’s largest power plant at Son La. The ninth achievement was success in human resource training in which 2,300 people were trained in overseas countries; hundreds attended programmes of Masters and Doctorate level in a variety of speciality fields.

 

EVN has overcome the biggest difficulty in which drought caused severe lack of water in water reservoirs especially in 2005. EVN has produced the merchant electricity volume of 44.95 billion KWh (13.22 percent higher than 2004); the total amount of production electricity was 52.28 billion kWh (13.2 percent higher than 2004).

 

“In the past year, EVN has earned VND 1,268 billion of profits, of which profits from electricity business were VND 964 billion. In addition, its telecommunication service EVN Telecom earned VND 403.5 billion, electricity companies earned VND 15.9 billion” said Mr. Dao Van Hung, Director of EVN.

 

However, in order to create favourable conditions for the plan in 2006 and the next five years from 2006 –2010, Mr. Hung said that EVN had petitioned the government and concerned ministries to deal with some problems. First, they asked the government to improve the economy all over the country and to ratify the project to equalise the investment of EVN, and asked ministries and agencies to offer capital for investment needs.

 

Moreover, EVN wants the government to allow its Management Board to decide its total wage fund and wage policy for production and business with an aim to guarantee activeness and cost saving.   Secondly, EVN asked the Ministry of Industry to consider and petition the government to ratify a project calculating electricity s to increase the capital source to build electricity works; to issue regulations to establish a competitive bidding market between power plants; to issue regulations for action and for the establishment of public funds to compensate for business and investment costs. Thirdly, EVN asked the Ministry of Planning and Investment to deliver reports on a budget for emigration and resettlement due to hydroelectric plants in Quang Tri, Son La and Tuyen Quang and to consider the investment budget for an electricity network in villages in the Central Highlands and other mountainous and island areas according to the public profit rule. Finally, EVN requested that the Ministry of Post and Telematics speed up the connection of EVN –Telecom to the VNPT network, which will give EVN –Telecom the ability to soon supply public telecommunication services all over the country; to issue licences to set up the network and lease lines for electricity companies, set up a company to deliver electricity according to the project and model that EVN has reported.