Southern power sector meets development demands

09:55 | 09/10/2018 Energy

(VEN) - The southern electricity sector has recorded significant achievements while overcoming difficulties and challenges to meet the region’s growing power demand.

southern power sector meets development demands
Many 220kV and 110kV power lines have been built and connected to the national grid

According to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), the liberation of the South in the 1970s posed extensive challenges for authorities, including those in charge of supplying power to the area who did not have spare parts to repair equipment and lacked oil for generator operation. Many areas had never been hooked up to the grid, while power production and distribution activities were poor and scattered.

In 1981, the party and the state decided to develop new power sources and grid systems. Projects included construction and expansion of the 230kV line from Can Tho City to Ho Chi Minh City; upgrading of power transmission lines to serve eastern and southwestern provinces; construction of the 400MW Tri An Hydropower Plant in 1983 (put into operation in 1987), and launch of the 150MW Thac Mo Hydropower Plant in 1994. Other projects included a 500kV power transmission line in 1994 to transmit electricity from the northern Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant to the South; and construction of the Ba Ria Thermo-power Plant, Phu My Thermo-power center, Ham Thuan-Da Mi hydropower project, and Dai Ninh Hydropower Plant, among others. In addition, many 220kV and 110kV power lines were built and connected to the national grid. Since 1995, all southern provinces have electricity grids, and diesel stations no longer serve as main power generators and are only used as reserve sources.

Since 1995, the southern region has had two electricity corporations - the Southern Power Corporation (EVNSPC) and the Ho Chi Minh City Power Corporation (EVNHCMC), delivering electricity to 22 southern provinces and cities, from Ninh Thuan to Ca Mau and Kien Giang provinces. The two corporations’ capital has increased annually to meet actual development demands. Investment has gone into upgrading 110kV and 220kV lines and transformer stations to ensure stable power supply for industrial, agricultural and fishery production, minimize grid overload and power losses, improve power supply reliability, and meet criteria related to new rural area development.

Of special note is the improved electricity supply to rural, mountainous and island areas, contributing to their economic development and improving people’s lives. In addition, the southern power sector has invested in science, technology and human resources to modernize grids and improve management capability, labor productivity and services.

The two corporations manage hundreds of transformer stations, hundreds of thousands of kilometers of lines of different voltage levels, and distribute electricity to all communes, wards and townships so that over 99.5 percent of households have access to electricity.

The southern electricity sector has been doing a good job in catering for the development of southern provinces and

cities in particular and the country in general.

Vu Son