Drought puts hydropower plants at risk
(14:05:55 PM 13/05/2015)Illustrative image -- File photo
Nguyen Van Tang, head of the An Khe-Ka Nak Hydropower management board, told the Daily on May 4 that just one cubic meter of water has flowed into the plant’s dam per second since the second half of April.
“This is the lowest water flow in 70 years,” Tang said.
The current water volume of the reservoir in the central province of Binh Dinh is some 2.1 million cubic meters, equivalent to a mere 30% of the designed capacity of six million cubic meters.
Tang said water shortage has forced the hydropower plant to cut its power generation for more than one week and its electricity output would continue to drop until the end of this month.
A Vuong hydropower plant in the central province of Quang Nam is in the same boat as it has fallen short of 65 million cubic meters of water in the year to date.
Nguyen Tram, general director of A Vuong Hydropower Joint Stock Company, said the water level of the plant’s dam was usually 380 meters at the start of the dry season in previous years but has sunk to nearly 370 meters this year.
Tram said the plant has worked out a plan to generate power and at the same time discharge water for lowlands. However, the water volume could hit the dead level of 340 meters on August 31 if no more water runs into its dam.
Water levels of the rivers in the south-central and the Central Highlands are forecast to decline sharply in March-August this year due to drought.
Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN) said the central and the Central Highlands regions have grappled with severe drought and water levels of the reservoirs there have been lower than the average of previous years.
EVN said it had to run coal- and gas-fueled power plants at full steam and at the same time bought electricity from China last month to ensure sufficient power supply for businesses and households.
The National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting said weather conditions would continue to be unfavorable until September.
The center forecast low rainfalls in the central coastal localities in the next four months.
Water levels of the river from Thanh Hoa to Ha Tinh provinces in the coming months are predicted to be 30-80% lower than the average of previous years, while the percentages would be 60-90% for the rivers from Quang Tri to Binh Thuan provinces.
The water level of Cai River in Nha Trang City, Khanh Hoa Province could be up to 90% lower than the average of previous years.
You may also be interested in:
-
Construction of flooding control works in HCMC slow
-
Northern Vietnam to suffer week-long rainstorm with likely flash floods
-
Drought-hit farmers urged to shift from rice to other crops
-
Drought & hot weather still hits central southern region
-
Mekong’s sediment load decreases, disaster nears
-
Drought hits VN agricultural sector growth
-
Typhoon Kujira causes serious damage to northern Vietnam
-
Nghe An declares state of emergency due to drought
-
Harsh drought in central Vietnam blamed on El Nino
Recent Posts:
- Hanoi mobilizes resources to improve the city’s air quality (28/11/2018)
- Accelerating the implementation of the Paris Agreement in Viet Nam through joint national and international efforts (07/11/2018)
- USAID Promotes Chi Initiative to Drive Down Demand for Rhino Horn (28/08/2018)
- Siemens supplies equipment for Vietnam’s largest solar farm (14/07/2018)
- Members of Vietnamese and German companies take pledge against wildlife crime (30/06/2018)
- Siemens Healthineers, Pham Ngoc Thach Medical University and Imed Medical Equipment Inked an MoU to foster education collaboration (30/05/2018)
- Traditional medicine students and lecturers work to discourage prescription of illegal wildlife products (28/05/2018)
-
FOUR PAWS ends bile bear keeping in Ninh Binh province (27/04/2018)
- ECOSYSTEM-BASED ADAPTATION PROJECT SUPPORTS COMPREHENSIVE COOPERATION FOR VIETNAM’S CLIMATE CHANGE RESPONSE (07/02/2018)
- Vestas and THC collaborate on developing wind farms in Huong Linh, Quang Tri province (07/12/2017)

Typhoon Kujira set to make landfall today
(Tinmoitruong.vn) - Storm Kujira, which was predicted to hit Quang Ninh Province late last night, is expected move northwest and make landfall today, according to the National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting (NCHF).

Energy emissions the most greenhouse gases
(Tinmoitruong.vn) - The Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment has introduced the lattest national greenhouse gas inventory report (GHG). Accordingly, the total GHG emission and absorption of the whole country is 246.8 million tonnes of CO2. Of those, the energy sector is the area with the highest GHG emissions accounting for 53.1% and the agriculture sector accounts for 33.2% of the total.

Dak Nong: Reducing greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation
(Tinmoitruong.vn) - On November 3rd, in Dak GLong District, Dak Nong, the Management Unit of the project “Support for the REDD+ Readiness Preparation” in Dak Nong (REDD+ - Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) in collaboration with the Dak GLong District People’s Committee organized a training course to raise awareness about climate change for forest owners, staff of departments and forest protection force in the District.