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People rest inside a room in a shopping mall set aside for those wanting to escape high outdoor temperatures in Hanoi as parts of northern Vietnam experienced power shortages with rolling outages to cope with increased demand for cooling as the mercury soared. Photo: AFP
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As blackouts sweep Vietnam, northern province vows ‘uninterrupted’ power for Apple suppliers and firms

  • Bac Giang province will secure electricity for factories between 7:45am to 5pm after recent blackouts disrupted production, and prioritise power to households at night
  • The province’s power distribution plan will run for 20 days, according to the report, and will be adjusted should the situation change
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Vietnam’s northern province of Bac Giang, home to suppliers for Apple Inc. and other global electronics companies, promises daytime power to factories as blackouts sweep across the country.

Outages have hit industrial estates in some northern provinces including Bac Giang and Bac Ninh, the state utility Vietnam Electricity Group’s northern unit has said. Soaring power usage in northern Vietnam is expected to continue through early June amid intense heat, it said.

In nearby Bac Ninh province, Communist Party Committee Secretary Nguyen Anh Tuan ordered officials to come up with a plan to minimise factory blackouts, particularly for electronics and food processing plants, Tuoi Tre newspaper reported.

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Vietnam heatwave forces public-lighting cuts to save energy amid record temperatures

Vietnam heatwave forces public-lighting cuts to save energy amid record temperatures

Bac Giang will secure “uninterrupted” electricity for factories between 7:45am to 5pm starting on Tuesday, according to a posting on the provincial news website, citing a meeting of local officials after recent blackouts disrupted production. The province will prioritise power to households at night.

Factories in the export-dependent economy so far haven’t complained about a lack of power, according to Nguyen Mai, head of the Vietnam Association of Foreign Invested Enterprises. Many global companies, particularly electronics makers such as Samsung Electronics Co. and those with large operations such as Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corp., have their own sources for electricity, he said by phone.

Nonetheless, some plants have experienced power shortages, Deputy Trade Minister Do Thang Hai said during a weekend briefing, without elaborating.

A representative Vietnam Electricity Group wasn’t immediately available for a comment.

A woman uses a plastic bag to shield herself from the sun while walking on a street of Hanoi. Photo: AFP

Bac Giang’s power distribution plan will run for 20 days, according to the report. It will be adjusted should the situation change.

Searing summer temperatures and reduced water levels in hydropower reservoirs are straining Vietnam’s grid. Thousands of factories have been forced to curb consumption and officials have implemented planned blackouts. Policymakers are now scrambling to find ways to boost electricity supply, either by quickly clearing completed renewable projects or bringing in liquefied natural gas imports for the first time.

Le Anh Duong, chairman of the province’s People’s Committee, urged companies to arrange shifts for the efficient use of power, it said. Companies with urgent orders should seek industrial estates’ approvals to operate extra shifts from midnight until 5am.

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