According to the Southern Power Corporation (EVNSPC), in August 2021 alone, the total energy output of EVNSPC was just over 5.4 billion kWh, a decrease by 17% compared to July and decreased by 16.09% over the same period in 2020. In which, the industrial production and construction areas decreased by 26.3% (about more than one billion kWh) and the hotel and restaurant services decreased by 19.9% (reduced by 37.2 million kWh).
The COVID-19 epidemic has severely affected the production activities of enterprises in the South. Illustration.
Due to the heavy influence of the COVID-19 pandemic, power energy consumption in the South region declined sharply, leading to a local excess of power sources in the area. The Power Industry had been forced to balance the mobilization of local power supplies, especially renewable energy sources, to match the load demand in each locality, to ensure the reliability of power supply for disease prevention and control and the life and activities of people throughout the South.
In terms of rooftop solar, according to EVNSPC, businesses have invested in rooftop solar power to use themselves and sell the excess power. Due to the fact that it is not currently consumed locally (mainly production has been stopped), businesses have sold all of it to the power grid. This is a contributing factor to the surge in power output that must be purchased under the model contract specified in Circular 18/2020/TT-BCT. In addition, solar PV projects also generate more power due to favorable weather factors for power generation in the first 8 months of 2021.
According to data from the National Load Dispatch Center (A0), in the first 2 weeks of September 2021, the average daily power output in the Southern region has decreased by 101.5 million kWh/day and the capacity decreased more than 5,000-6,000 W (equivalent to 9-10 coal-fired power units with a capacity of 600MW) compared to the previous period. In order to ensure the safe operation of the national power system when power consumption is low due to many provinces and cities implementing social distancing, A0 and regional dispatching centers have been mobilizing power sources to follow the power consumption demand of the whole country and each region. At the same time, A0 and regional dispatching centers meet the technical requirements to ensure the safe and stable operation of the power system. The Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and the National Load Dispatch Center also continue to suggest that the power source investors need to closely coordinate with A0 and the dispatching levels, strictly implementing the control orders to ensure the safety of the national power system