HÀ NỘI – Reducing electricity countrywide for just one hour Saturday night saved the equivalent of more than VNĐ800 million.

Vietnam joined the world for Earth Hour. A global awareness day held each year to reduce energy costs.

Việt Nam saved 485,000 kWh of electricity, equivalent to VNĐ834 million (US$36,610), between 8:30pm-9:30pm of Saturday, according to the National Load Dispatch Centre.

During the hour, many people from 63 provinces and cities nationwide switched off unnecessary electrical devices.

This year’s figure represented a slight rise against the 471,000 kWh of electricity saved during the Earth Hour 2017.

Speaking at a ceremony held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade in response to the Earth Hour in Hà Nội’s August Revolution Square the same day, Deputy Minister Cao Quốc Hưng said the Vietnamese Government has issued a lot of strategies and policies on thrift energy use and environmental protection in order to show the country’s determination to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Earth Hour is the largest social event in the world, which has been observed in 7,000 cities of 172 countries and territories.

Việt Nam first joined the Earth Hour campaign, which is an initiative of World Wide Fund for Nature, in 2009 to cut greenhouse emissions by eight per cent come.

The country launched the Earth Hour campaign 2018 at a ceremony held in Hà Nội on March 3.

Together with the symbolic action of turning off unnecessary electrical devices for an hour on Saturday, many other power-saving activities have been launched at businesses, households, schools, together with competitions and Flashmob performances during March, the month of the campaign. — VNS

World cities switch off - see page 10