Falling reservoir water levels threaten power supply this year

HCMC – Many hydropower plants in the country have seen their reservoirs ebbing to extremely low levels, leaving huge impact on hydropower generation in the ongoing dry season.

According to State utility Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN), the hydropower reservoirs will continue falling in the coming months because their water levels are lower than the average.

In the first four months of this year, water flows into reservoirs in northern Vietnam were 60% to 70% of the average levels of many previous years.

Many hydropower reservoirs in the central and southern regions of the country are in the same situation.

Early this month, the water volume of many reservoirs was low, threatening the power supply in the rest of this dry season.

Currently, 10 reservoirs of EVN-run power plants and many others with a total capacity of 4,500 MW are at the dead water levels, such as the reservoirs of Lai Chau, Tri An, Ialy, Ban Chat, Huoi Quang, Trung Son, Buon Kuop, Tua Srah, Srepok 3 and Song Ba Ha.

The output generated by the remaining water of all the reservoirs in the system could be 4.5 billion kWh, 1.6 billion kWh lower than the target and 4.1 billion kWh lower than the same period of last year.

The National Centre for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said that hot spells and low rainfalls caused by the El Nino phenomenon at the end of this year would lower water flows into reservoirs. If severe drought is widespread and floods bring little water, power supply would be affected in the coming months.

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