On February 5, 2021, the Ministry of Industry and Trade has just issued an “express” document No. 736/BCT-DTDL (referred to as document 736) on some urgent issues regarding the safe operation of the power system. Document 736 stated clearly that: The situation in which the generation capacity of the power system exceeds the peak load is dangerous, seriously affecting the safety and security of the power system because it may cause an increase in the power system frequency, even leading to a blackout across the national power system if no precise dispatching orders and other emergency solutions are released and implemented in a timely manner.
Therefore, the Ministry of Industry and Trade requires the National Load Dispatch Center (NLDC), in addition to forecasting and doing calculations to ensure the balance between the generation capacity and the load demand to urgently curtail generation output of power plants to the power grid in accordance with the current regulations in case the generation capacity of the system may exceed the load demand, with the aim of ensuring safe and failure-free operation of the power system.
EVN requests NLDC to strictly follow the directions of the Ministry of Industry and Trade at document 736 to analyze and announce the generation capacity as well as the type of power sources to be curtailed; at the same time NLDC delivers dispatching orders in line with the generation mix, transmission capacity between regions/areas, required spinning reserve and quick-start reserve, etc. Dispatching orders should be strictly complied with and implemented on the principles of clarity, transparency, consistency among generation types, regardless of licensed or exempted power plants.
According to document 736, generation organizations having power plants connected and generating electricity to the national power system are responsible for strictly observing the mode of operation and dispatching orders of the load dispatch centers which are entitled to control and inspect according to the provisions of Circular No. 40/2014/TT-BCT regulating dispatching procedure of the national power system, Circular No. 31/2019/TT-BCT amending and supplementing some articles of the national power system dispatching procedure, and taking responsibility before the law for any violations.
According to data from the National Load Dispatch Center, at present, the total installed capacity of the whole system is about 69,000 MW with more than 21,600 MW of renewable energy.
According to data from the National Load Dispatch Center, at present, the total installed capacity of the whole system is about 69,000 MW with more than 21,600 MW of renewable energy (solar power alone has a total capacity of more than 16,000 MW). Meanwhile, on the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday, the peak load of the whole country at off-peak midday is forecasted to drop to around 13,000 MW and 15,000 MW. Thus, the total capacity of solar power sources alone can be higher than the load demand at off-peak midday on Tet holiday.
According to the analysis of NLDC, even when the generation output of conventional energy sources are curtailed down to the technical limit, however with the forecasted low load situation on Tet holiday, the total generation capacity may exceed the load demand. EVN requests owners of power plants to coordinate closely with NLDC and load dispatch centers at all levels to strictly comply with Document No. 736/BCT-DTDL dated February 5, 2021 of the Ministry of Industry and Trade to ensure the safe operation of the national power system during low load times, especially during the coming Lunar New Year holiday.