The Vietnam Electricity has worked with National Power Transmission Corporation and Southern Power Corporation to speed up the progress of power grid projects in Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận province in order to handle the power transmission overload  in the area. – VNA/VNS Photo Nguyễn Thanh

NINH THUẬN – Electricity transmission lines, especially in Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận provinces, are being overloaded after a number of renewable power projects began production simultaneously without the requisite strengthening of transmission capacity.

According to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), at the end of June the country had 89 solar power plants with a total capacity of 4,543 MW, far in excess of the 850 MW by 2020 envisaged in the country’s power plan.

Ninh Thuận and Bình Thuận have 38 of them with a total capacity of 2,027MW, most of them built in a rush to beat a June 30 deadline to get tariff incentives for 20 years.

It is expected that by December next year solar capacity in the two provinces will increase to 4,240MW while demand is low, meaning the excess power has to be transmitted to the grid.

According to EVN, Ninh Thuận requires only 100-115MW and Bình Thuận, 250-280MW.

Nguyễn Đức Cường, director of the National Load Dispatch Centre, said most transmission lines and stations in the area were overloaded, some by 360 per cent.

To handle the overload, the centre was considering a temporary reduction in the electricity transmitted from the solar plants to the grid.

Trần Đình Nhân, general director of EVN, said EVN had directed the National Power Transmission Corporation and Southern Power Corporation to speed up expansion of transmission capacity in order to utilise the full capacity of the solar farms.

Lâm Xuân Tuấn, deputy director of the Southern Power Corporation, said it was installing 16 110KV power grids at a total cost of VNĐ1.2 trillion (US$52.1 million). – VNS