Workers at Electricity Transmission Company 1 inspect 220 kV Xuân Mai substation equipment. Photo: Huy Hung/TTXVN
To proactively ensure the operation of the power system and supply electricity during the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Horse, since the end of 2023, EVN and related units have developed plans to ensure safe and explosion-proof power supply; organize assignment and standby 24/24 hours as well as prepare personnel, vehicles, materials and equipment to be ready to handle incidents when power failures occur.
EVN has also requested units to actively coordinate with local authorities, police and military, to develop and implement plans to protect security, order, safety and explosion prevention for power works, office headquarters, warehouses…
During the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Horse 2024 from February 8th to 14th, 2024 (from the 29th of Lunar December to the 5th of Lunar January), the power industry will not carry out power cuts on the grid, except in cases where power cuts are mandatory to deal with incidents.
In addition, EVN also requires its units to be ready to implement measures to ensure disease prevention and control in accordance with the guidance of the Ministry of Health and local functional agencies.
In the operation of the power system, the National Power System Dispatch Center (A0) has calculated, planned the operation of sources, grids and commanded the operation according to the actual situation. According to the annual law, the total electricity consumption nationwide during the Lunar New Year will decrease significantly compared to normal days. According to the forecast figures, during the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Horse 2024, the total national low-load consumption capacity at midday could decrease to only 14,700 MW to 17,500 MW, corresponding to a rate of about 60% compared to normal days.
With low electricity consumption during the holiday, many types of power sources must reduce generation in accordance with load demand. In fact, for the current power system, in order to ensure safe and stable operation of the power system, A0 is required to maintain some conventional power generation units (such as thermal power, gas turbines, hydropower…) at a minimum level to ensure inertia and stability for the power system as well as have enough reserve capacity in cases of power source incidents or abnormal fluctuations in actual operation.
Therefore, when the load consumption capacity goes too low, traditional power sources have stopped/reduced generation at the technical limit while the total generation capacity still exceeds the consumption demand, leading to a mandatory requirement to adjust and reduce mobilized capacity from all types of power sources, including renewable energy sources (such as small hydropower, solar power, wind power) to ensure safe operation of the national power system.
With the aim of enhancing transparency and information disclosure about the operation of the national power system, since the end of September 2021, A0 has daily published data on the expected mobilized power capacity of the next day for each type of power source and during typical hours: Midday hours (highest sunlight radiation but low power consumption) and Afternoon – evening hours (high power consumption but very low sunlight radiation). This data is posted and updated daily on the website of the National Power System Dispatch Center (https://www.nldc.evn.vn/Thitruongdien).
EVN requests the investors of power plants to continue closely coordinating with the Dispatch Departments at all levels in strictly implementing dispatch orders to ensure the safe operation of the national power system, especially during the Lunar New Year of the Year of the Horse 2024 when electricity consumption is sharply reduced compared to normal days.
