Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant in the namesake province in northern Vietnam, one of the country’s major hydropower facilities, is still operational, but the water level of its reservoir is falling, triggering concerns over continued power blackouts in the region.

Meanwhile, many big reservoirs in the northern region have halted operations due to drying up.

Pham Van Vuong, director of Hoa Binh Hydropower Company, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Tuesday that the water level of the reservoir reached some 102 meters, 22 meters from the dead-pool level.

The water level is very low, at some 40 cubic meters per second, though downpours have hit the locale over the past few days.

Water inflows remain weak, piling pressure on the operation of the hydropower plant, said Vuong.

The facility is expected to generate 3.5 billion kWh of power, meeting 37 percent of the full-year target in 2023.

Apart from the constant power supply to the national energy grid, Hoa Binh Hydropower Plant must ensure the quality of electricity generation.

As such, after other major hydropower plants such as Son La and Lai Chau had to cut their capacity or halted operations, Hoa Binh Hydropower Facility acted as a cushion for the power system.

“The water level of the reservoir will reach the dead-pool level if the plant operates at full capacity for 12 or 13 days,” said Vuong.

The plant will operate at full capacity during the period of high demands for electricity, but it can come to a standstill at off-peak times.

The total volume of water flowing into the northern region’s big reservoirs, mainly Hoa Binh and Lai Chau, on Monday rose 28 percent from the previous day, according to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

All major hydropower plants but the Hoa Binh facility have either suspended or slimmed down their operations, said the ministry.

Some 5,000 megawatts (MW) of power have yet to be mobilized from hydropower plants.

The maximum electricity output stood at 18,580 MW in the northern region on Monday, with a mere 3,800 MW of hydropower.

Many coal-fired thermal power plants in northern Vietnam scaled down their operations on Monday, mainly resulting from a severe shortage of coal.

State utility EVN wrote to Vietnam Oil and Gas Group (PVN) on Tuesday proposing the latter beef up gas supply for power generation at power plants in the southern region of Vietnam to ensure electricity consumption during the dry season.

PVN was told to get well prepared for the supply of coal, oil, and gas to its power plants.

EVN said on Tuesday that 11 renewable energy projects had gained a commercial operation date. Nearly 540 MW of power generated from these plants was connected to the national energy grid.

Until now, 68 of 85 renewable power projects with a combined capacity of 3,790 MW submitted their dossiers to EVN to negotiate electricity sales.

EVN has signed power selling and purchasing contracts with 55 project owners.

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