PetroVietnam churns out 9 billion cubic meters of gas,
but it only sells 5.7 billion cubic meters to power generators. Lacking 800
million cubic meters of gas for generating power, the Electricity of Vietnam
EVN will have to spend 18 trillion dong to buy oil to generate power, and have
one more reason to raise the electricity price.
Gas shortage would lead to electricity shortage
Pham Le Thanh, general director
of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) informed at the meeting discussing the
production plan in 2011-2015 held by the Ministry of Industry and Trade on
December 7, that in 2012, the production may have some problems due to the gas
supply.
As planned, EVN will need 6.6
billion cubic meters of gas in 2012, but it can only buy 5.7 billion cubic
meters of gas. Therefore, EVN will have to use oil to generate the remaining
4.2 billion cubic meters of gas.
EVN has also warned that
Vietnam may have to use oil to run power generators in the next five years, if
the national economy grows rapidly. EVN has submitted a report to the
government that in order to meet the demand of a national economy with the GDP
growth rate of 6.5-7 percent per annum, the commercial electricity output needs
to increase by 13-15 percent.
In case the electricity output
needs to increase greatly by 15 percent, Thanh said that it is estimated that
11-12 billion kWh of electricity would be generated from oil. Meanwhile,
generating power from oil is the biggest obsession to EVN.
Deputy minister of Industry and
Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong said that if using oil to offset the shortage of nearly
one billion cubic meters of gas, EVN will have to pay 18 trillion dong
additionally. "No high electricity price can offset such a big sum of
money," Vuong said.
In fact, the short gas supply
has forced the Electricity Regulatory Unit to cut electricity in some provinces
in the south already. On November 28, for example, since the Vietnam Gas
Corporation did not increase the gas supplied to the Ba Ria power plant, the
unit had to cut 25 MW in additional charge.
In order to provide enough
electricity, Thanh said that EVN needs to see its four proposals satisfied.
First of all, it needs enough gas. Secondly, the electricity price needs to be
reasonable to ensure the financial sources for EVN to develop. Thirdly,
electricity projects need to have enough capital. Fourthly, it is necessary to
facilitate the site clearance for electricity network projects.
Vietnam does not lack gas
In fact, Vietnam does not lack
gas to sell to power generators. PetroVietnam, the biggest gas supplier, said
at a press conference held recently that in 2011, it churns out 9 cubic meters
of gas.
"PetroVietnam said it puts
out 9 billion cubic meters of gas this year, but it sells only 5.7 cubic meters
to EVN. How about the remaining volume of gas?" questioned deputy prime
minister Hoang Trung Hai.
Hai went on to say that
PetroVietnam needs to prioritise to provide gas to serve the electricity
production.
Also, according to the deputy
prime minister, a big challenge in the next year is the energy balancing.
Vietnam will begin lacking coal from 2015 and it will have to import coal.
It is clear that the
electricity shortage would be a big obstacle for Vietnam when calling for
foreign investment. Therefore, Hai has instructed the three powerful economic
groups that make electricity, coal and gas to cooperate closely to settle the
problems to ensure to provide enough electricity to the national economy.
VietNamNet
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