Total electricity generation in the first five months of this year reached 124.25 billion kWh, a 12.2% increase compared to the same period last year, according to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).

In May alone, 28.09 billion kWh of electricity was generated, a year-on-year rise of 11.3 per cent.

Of the five-month total, 73.97 billion kWh was generated from coal thermal power plants, accounting for 59.5%, 19.08 billion kWh from hydro power plants, or 15.4%, and 17.62 billion kWh from renewable energy, or 14.2%.

The electricity consumption across the country reached a new record of over 1 billion kWh  per day on May 29, surpassing the 1 billion kWh mark for the first time in history, according to the EVN.

The strong increase in electricity consumption was blamed for intense heat waves in the last days of May.

It has been predicted that electricity consumption would increase rapidly in June as a result of heath waves.

To ensure power supply, the EVN plans to increase electricity generation to $28.1 billion kWh in June, up 13.8% year-on-year.