Several enterprises in the northern region of Vietnam have decried repeated power outages after a region-wide electricity cut paralyzed their production activities.

A representative of state utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN) said that power would be cut in the region by up to 30 percent.

According to a representative of an apparel firm active in Viet Hung Industrial Park in Ha Long City under Quang Ninh Province, the firm’s production was in a turmoil due to unstable power supply.

Power outages have forced the company to constantly run its own generators, leading to a surge in production costs, the representative said, adding that the firm might halt operations if the blackout continues.

“Due to global economic difficulties, we have adopted various measures to secure orders to maintain work for over 1,000 employees, but massive power outages have prompted us to use generators,” said the representative.

However, it is hard to lengthen the situation, the representative added.

Facing the same fate, the leader of a shipbuilding company located in Tien Lang District in Hai Phong City said that the firm found it tough to maintain production due to continuous power outages.

The firm has told its workers to work night shifts to ensure production progress, said the leader.

Le Trung Kien, head of the management board of the Hai Phong City economic zone, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper that rotational power outages had taken a heavy toll on firms’ production and workers.

“The leader of the Hai Phong City administration is set to work with EVN to seek solutions for creating an adequate power supply to stabilize production and business operations,” Kien said.

“An unstable power supply would discourage investors."

Speaking at a press briefing held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on Wednesday afternoon to discuss the situation, Ngo Son Hai, deputy general director of EVN, said that available power supply to the northern region was 17,000 megawatts.

However, the region is expected to need 20,000 megawatts of electricity during the hot weather.

As such, the electricity firm will cut power consumption by 6-10 percent each day, and lower the supply to the northern region by up to 30 percent on the hottest days.

According to a representative of Quang Ninh Power Company, the severe shortage of power forced the company to reduce power supply as requested by the northern load dispatch center to guarantee the safety of the national power grid.

Similarly, Hai Phong Power Company said that the northern load dispatch center allocated an average 775 – 1,001 megawatts of power to Hai Phong City. The shortage of power amounts to some 500 – 600 megawatts.

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