Using power during peak hours: Does it cost higher?

Using power during peak hours is inevitable, but users wonder if the cost for the power using is higher than normal   hours. The answer will be given at the interview of Reporter from the Power World with Mr. Tran Viet Nguyen - Deputy Head of Business Department of Vietnam Electricity.

Mr. Tran Viet Nguyen

Reporter: Dear Sir, does power using during peak hours consume more power than that of during off-peak ones?

Mr. Tran Viet Nguyen: I do assert that using power during peak hours does not consume more power then at other times of the day, but the costs of using power are much higher for the production and business customers.

As a typical example: For business customers using voltage of under 6kV, power price applied for off-peak hours is only 35% of that applied for peak hours; power price per average hour is 58% of the price at peak hours. If enterprises use power during off-peak hours, about VND 2,700/kWh will be saved (equivalent to saving 65% of power costs) compared to that at peak hours. That is why EVN still regularly recommends customers to try to limit using power during peak hours to save costs, improve production, business efficiency.

Reporter: In addition to saving cost, what are the benefits of limiting the use of power during peak hours, Sir?

Mr. Tran Viet Nguyen: At peak hours, the demand for power increases, especially in hot seasons, that’s why the Power sector mobilizes many power plants to meet the demand of load; even oil-fired power source with high price (about 3 times as much as other power sources), resulting in inefficiency in terms of economy and power system operation.

If customers take advantage of off-peak hours, they can ensure the efficiency in production and business while saving costs; contributing to reduce the investment pressure on the country, limiting the mobilization of high-priced power.

Moreover, the local overload phenomenon will occur in some areas due to the increased demand for power, causing incidents of circuit-breaker switching, especially in hot seasons. Therefore, using power during off-peak hours also contributes to improving the reliability of power supply, ensuring the safety for electrical equipment.

Reporter: Along with taking advantage of off-peak hours, what do customers need to do for using power in saving and effective manner, sir?

Mr. Tran Viet Nguyen: In order to efficiently save power, especially in hot seasons, power users should appropriately operate electrical equipment, especially cooling ones.

Specifically, with air conditioners, the temperature mode should be set at from 25 to 26 degrees Celsius at day time and 27 to 29 degrees Celsius at night time; combine air conditioner and electric fan at the same time to reduce the air conditioner’s power capacity; close door to prevent the low temperature from escaping out of room; install additional equipment for monitoring and automatic controlling temperature for air conditioning system, etc. With refrigerators, it should not be set with too low temperature; restrict the times of opening; make sure that the refrigerator’s door is always closed to keep temperature.

Additionally, power users should select and use electrical equipment labeled with energy stars or energy labels (the more number of stars, the more power saved); use LEDs instead of compact fluorescent lamps; turn off electrical equipment when they are not in use; maintain and clean cooling equipment before hot seasons, helping equipment more stably operate with high performance and lower power consumption.

In particular, customers can search online and refer to the monthly power consumption through the customer care system of the Power sector to prepare for solutions to efficient and economical using.

Reporter: What is the reason when in hot seasons, electrical equipment such as refrigerators, air conditioners often consumes more power than other seasons in the year Sir,?

Mr. Tran Viet Nguyen: When outdoor temperature rises, the heating rack of such equipment as air conditioners, refrigerators must operate more to ensure the cooling effect of the cooling rack, resulting in high power consumption. In hot seasons, customers usually turn on the air conditioner continuously and set it at low temperature mode, resulting in high power consumption, etc.

Reporter: Thank you very much Sir!

• 15/06/2018 05:09
• evn.com.vn
• 2190