Under a dispatch signed by Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh on June 6, relevant ministries, agencies, and localities have been urged to take drastic measures to ensure electricity supply during the dry season and into the future.

The severe heat and impact of the El Nino weather pattern have led to a surge in power demand, coupled with a lack of rain in many northern localities resulting in extremely low water levels in hydropower reservoirs, which will greatly affect the supply of electricity in the dry season, according to the dispatch.

The Prime Minister asked the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) to guide Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) on building scenarios to effectively and proactively deal with difficulties in power supply before June 10.

The MoIT was asked to quickly finalize a Prime Ministerial directive on strengthening power savings in the 2023-2025 period and subsequent years for submission to the Prime Minister for issuance by June 8. The ministry was also ordered to complete a Prime Ministerial directive on ensuring power supply and the supply of coal and gas for electricity production, for submission by June 15.

Prime Minister Chinh also asked the MoIT to instruct negotiations of purchasing prices for solar and wind power from projects that have been built but their commercial operations date exceeded the deadline for the application of feed-in tariffs (FIT), and complete the task within June.