The impact of the COVID-19 outbreak has resulted in lower than expected growing demand on national electricity. The electricity industry is facing the problem of “excessive power”. The Government has requested for inspection so as not to let solar power follow the hype.
Excessive power … is worth alarming
According to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), up to now, the total installed solar capacity in the country has reached about 19,400 MWp (of which nearly 9,300 MWp is rooftop solar power), equivalent to approximately 16,500 MW – accounting for around 25% of the total installed capacity of the national power system.
According to EVN, the natural feature of solar power is highly dependent on the sunny period of the day. When the sun rays are strong, a great amount of electricity is generated and if there is no sunlight, there is no electricity. This shows the difficulties and shortcomings in operating the power system.
Because the weather from September to the end of the year tends to get colder, the national power system load changes accordingly to the typical patterns in the cold season. If the national total solar power capacity is 16,500 MW, it is equivalent to about 40% of the national load low peaks at midday.
In particular, the phenomena of excessive power happening at midday from 10am to 2pm (especially on weekends and holidays) result from the fact that the load is low during this time, while the sun radiation is reaching its peak.
On the other hand, rush hours (from approximately 17:30 to 18:30) is the time when power demand is highest in the day, the power system needs a rather large amount of generated power, but at this time, the ability to meet tens of thousands of megawatts of solar power is virtually impossible. So as to ensure power supply, the power system always needs to maintain a number of traditional power generators in ready condition, and at the same time cut down on renewable energy sources.
To EVN, the case where the excessive power of the system is being generated on the system compared to the load consumed is posing a major threat to the safety and the security of the power system, since it can cause the system’s frequency to increase, or even cause widespread power problems across the national power system if there were no promptly accurate dispatching orders and other urgent solutions.
Hence, to ensure security and safety in operating the power system, the National Load Dispatch Center cannot mobilize the full available capacity of the power source, including the renewable energy resources such as wind power and solar power at low load hours at noon, on the weekends or public holidays.
The strict management of the local government on solar power is essential
Mr. Hoang Tien Dung – Director of the Department of Electricity and Renewable Energy (Ministry of Industry and Trade) said that the development of solar power and rooftop solar power is in line with the policies of the Party and the Government on renewable energy development in general and solar power in particular.
When the big potential of hydropower has been fully exploited; it is difficult to arrange international capital for coal-fired thermal power due to its commitment to fight against global climate change. Also, the liquefied gas thermoelectricity has a relatively high power price and depends on the world’s fuel sources. Therefore, the development of renewable energy and solar power will continue to be focused in the forthcoming time.
However, over the past period, there has been a phenomenon of massively developed movements with wrong purposes and lack of control, causing the overloading of the regional grid.
Therefore in the future, the local government need to strictly manage while the authorities need to guide, disseminate and work closely together in the fields of construction, land, agriculture, fire prevention and fighting, environment…in order to ensure the management and development of renewable energy and solar in accordance with the regulations.
Source: Laodong.vn
