Many small hydropower plants have played a good role in electricity generation, environmental protection, water supply for the downstream - Photo: Huyen Thuong
The construction of many hydropower projects in the years 2010 - 2014 has caused some shortcomings. Some projects have destroyed the environment, those under the shadow of hydropower projects deforested, discharged flood not in accordance with regulated procedures, and caused damages to the people. As a result, the National Assembly has eliminated more than 400 projects, suspended 136 projects, not considered adding 172 potential locations into master plans, and continued reviewing 158 projects, etc.
According to Mr. Tran Viet Ngai, Chairman of the Vietnam Energy Association (VEA), from an objective perspective on over 300 small and medium hydropower projects that have been built, their economic efficiency is undeniable when they have contributed about 3,000 MW of capacity, or about 10 billion kWh of energy to the power system every year.
By August 2017, many projects have been operating stably, reforestation has been conducted, having no impacts on resettlement and life of people upstream and downstream, flood discharge has followed the procedures.
Therefore, VEA proposes that projects those are feasible for further investment (projects having economic efficiency, capacity of over 30 MW) should be reconsidered to supply electricity to the remote areas.
"According to our calculations, if we exploit another 300 - 400 small and medium hydropower projects, the total capacity of these hydropower sources will reach about 3,000 - 4,000 MW, a remarkable supplement to the national power system. Every year, about 20 billion kWh will be provided from these sources, adding to the currently insufficient electricity" – Mr. Ngai explained.
Sharing the same point of view, Mr. Phan Duy Phu, Deputy Head of the Hydropower Department under the General Directorate of Energy, said that the country's hydropower potential is quite large, with a total installed capacity of around 35,000 MW and an average annual electricity output of about 300 billion kWh. However, considering economic, technical and environmental aspects, only about 26,000 MW can be exploited, achieving about 100 billion kWh.
By August 2017, 824 hydropower projects in total have been integrated in master plans, representing as high as 95.3% in terms of capacity compared with economic potential. Of which, 343 projects have been put into operation with the total capacity of 17,987 MW; 165 projects of 3,348 MW under construction ; 260 projects of 3,050 MW being planned for development; the remaining 56 projects having no investment policy yet. At present, the operating small hydropower plants contribute about 6.6% of installed capacity and 5.4% of electricity to the national grid.
At the same time, annual operation and maintenance costs are lower than investment costs and much lower than those of other power plants. Small hydropower is a versatile supply, thanks to their load following ability.
With these arguments, Mr. Ngai reaffirmed that consideration of resuming utilization of small and medium hydropower is necessary and reasonable. In order to mitigate negative impacts of small and medium hydropower investments, Mr. Ngai sets out five principles: unconditional safety (reservoirs, dams, lives of the people); harmonious resettlement; no adverse environmental impacts; electricity generation efficiency, synergy (environmental protection, flood control, water supply); strict compliance with legal regulations (planning, project approval, construction, supervision and operation).
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According to the revised Master Plan No.7, the electricity industry will prioritize development of hydropower sources, especially the multi-purpose projects (anti-flood, water supply, electricity generation); study and put pumped storage power plants into operation in line with the development of the national power system, in order to improve the efficiency of the power system operation. To increase the total capacity of hydropower (including small and medium hydropower, pumped storage power plants) to around 21,600 MW by 2020; about 24,600 MW by 2025 and about 27,800 MW by 2030.
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