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Dong Nai 3 Hydroelectric Power Plant’s first turbine in operation

In Uncategorized on January 12, 2011 at 7:08 am




Dong Nai 3 Hydroelectric Power Plant’s first turbine in operation


QĐND – Saturday, January 08, 2011, 20:30 (GMT+7)

Dong Nai 3 Hydroelectric Power Plant’s first turbine was officially put into operation on January 8 in Dac Giong district, Dak Nong province, in the presence of Deputy Prime Minister Hoang Trung Hai.  


Addressing the event, Deputy PM Hai called on Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) and the management board of Dong Nai 3 Hydroelectric Power Plant to ensure the turbine’s safe operation and efficiency. He urged them to run the second turbine of the plant in the first quarter in 2011 so that Dong Nai 4 plant can start working by the end of this year.


Deputy PM Hai suggested the EVN should continue to work in close coordination with localities to take care of people’s resettlement.


The construction of Dong Nai 3 Hydroelectric Power project began in 2004. Its total investment capital was VND6,000 billion. It consists of two turbines and produces over 600 million kW per hour every year.


The plant will serve to limit floods in the area, create a water source for Dong Nai 4 Hydroelectric Power Plant and provide water for agriculture use. It is also one of emulation activities to celebrate the coming 11th National Party Congress.

Source: VOV

Source: QDND

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US cannot accept China military power: state media

In Uncategorized on January 8, 2011 at 4:10 am

BEIJING, Jan 7, 2011 (AFP) – China will eventually have a military powerful enough to compete with the United States, state media said Friday ahead of the visit of US Defence Secretary Robert Gates.


The claim in a newspaper editorial followed reports that China had completed a prototype of a stealth fighter and after a top US military official said Beijing was stepping up efforts to deploy a “carrier-killer” missile system.


“Whether the reported new weapons are true or not, in the long run, China will own first-class weapons that are capable of competing with the US war machine,” said the Global Times, known for its nationalist tone.

Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi (R) meets with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon at the United Nations headquarters in New York, January 6, 2011. AFP

Gates arrives in China on Sunday to smooth over tense defence relations between the two countries — one year after Beijing cut military ties with Washington in protest against US arms sales to rival Taiwan.


“Apparently, the US is not ready to treat China as a major power. They cannot accept the fact that China will sooner or later possess a first-class military,” the editorial said.


“They are too used to the old power structure, in which China and other developing countries have long been treated unfairly.”


In an interview last week with a Japanese newspaper, the head of the US Pacific Command Admiral Robert Willard said China was pushing development of “carrier-killers” and aimed to project its influence beyond its regional waters.


US military analysts have warned China is developing an anti-ship ballistic missile — a new version of its Dongfeng 21 missile — that could pierce the defences of even the most sturdy US naval vessels and has a range far beyond Chinese waters.


Whereas Gates’s Chinese counterpart Liang Guanglie has said that China will push forward with modernisation of its military thanks to a booming economy, the United States is facing major cuts.


Citing “dire” fiscal pressures, Gates on Thursday proposed deeper cuts than planned in US military programmes, scaling back ground forces for the first time since the 1990s.


Gates, in a compromise with the White House, said the 78 billion dollars in cuts and other measures would result in a slower pace of growth in defence budgets over the next five years, despite earlier plans to keep spending at a higher rate.


China has long described its military build-up as “defensive” in nature but top armed forces officials have recently made increasingly strong statements about its quest for a powerful military. 

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Source: SGGP

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Obama to regulate carbon from power plants

In Uncategorized on December 24, 2010 at 5:56 am

 US President Barack Obama’s administration said it will regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, setting up a climate change battle with a skeptical new Congress.


The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said it would set standards for fossil fuel power plants and petroleum refineries, which together emit nearly 40 percent of the gasses blamed for climate change in the United States.


The decision comes after a bill to set up a “cap-and-trade” program to restrict emissions in the world’s second largest polluter died in the Senate, although the EPA insisted it was not trying to replace action by Congress.


“We are following through on our commitment to proceed in a measured and careful way to reduce greenhouse gas pollution that threatens the health and welfare of Americans and contributes to climate change,” EPA chief Lisa Jackson said in a statement.

US President Barack Obama’s administration said Thursday it will regulate greenhouse gas emissions from power plants, setting up a climate change battle with a skeptical new Congress

“These standards will help American companies attract private investment to the clean energy upgrades that make our companies more competitive and create good jobs here at home,” she said.


The EPA did not go into specifics about the new standards, saying it would make a proposal in the new year and finalize it in 2012 after public comment.


The regulator suggested it would not impose an outright figure for emission standards but instead would ask companies to embrace cleaner technologies.


“This is not about a cap-and-trade program,” senior EPA official Gina McCarthy told reporters on a conference call.


“It is not in any way trying to get into the areas in which Congress will be establishing law, at some point in the future we hope,” she said.


McCarthy did not say which technologies would be favored, although the Obama administration has been promoting wind, solar and other low-emission renewable energies. Fossil fuels, particularly coal, are much dirtier.


Representative Darrell Issa, who is set for a prominent role in the Republican-led House of Representatives that takes over next month, was “disappointed” by the EPA decision, said his spokesman, Kurt Bardella.


“The fact is there are serious questions about the wisdom of EPA’s recent efforts to impose multiple job-killing regulations that only serve to raise costs on a manufacturing industry trying to overcome a bad economy,” he said.


The National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, an industry group, vowed to fight the EPA move and accused the Obama administration of usurping the authority of Congress.


“Regulations can’t create technology that doesn’t exist or change the laws of physics and economics, so the only way to comply with EPA’s proposals would be to inflict massive increases in energy costs and massive increases in unemployment on families across our nation,” it said.


But advocates of action on climate change believe that the United States can open up a new green economy, creating jobs, if it moves away from fossil fuels.


Joe Mendelson of the National Wildlife Federation criticized “polluters that want to hold hostage America’s clean energy future and our public health with bullying and unfounded threats of doom and gloom.”


The upcoming rules could also trigger a battle with oil-producing Texas, which emits far more greenhouse gases than any other state and has adamantly opposed Washington restrictions.


Obama last year pledged that the United States would curb emissions by 17 percent by 2020 compared with 2005 levels. The goal is modest compared to the actions of other developed economies, particularly the European Union.

Most scientists say the world is far off track at meeting a goal — codified at UN climate talks in Mexico this month — of keeping temperatures from rising more than two degrees Celsius (3.6 Fahrenheit) above pre-industrial levels.

Source: SGGP

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Tougher measures needed for power saving

In Uncategorized on December 17, 2010 at 2:27 pm




Tougher measures needed for power saving


QĐND – Friday, December 17, 2010, 20:56 (GMT+7)


Developing electricity and controlling energy to sustain the national economy only focuses on supply resources without paying due attention to controlling electricity use, say energy experts.

According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade, Hoang Quoc Vuong, Vietnam consumes approximately 80 billion kWh of electricity every year. In 2010, the country has saved 1 percent of the total electricity output (around 1 billion kWh). If electricity use is applied strictly and properly, savings of 3-5 percent can be made.


Disregard of power saving


Around 3,000 households across the country consume high levels of electricity almost 3 million kWh/year. However, Vietnamese businesses give no or little attention to saving power. 25 percent of businesses say that it is impossible to save electricity. Only one business says it will try its best to invest more to save power and reduce electricity by half in the future. These figures were released by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) and the Asian Institute of Competition in the third quarter of this year.


The Energy Saving Department under the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) says that State and government agencies have devised a 10 percent power saving plan, but efficiency is still low due to a lack of solutions and sanctions. In addition, a cut in the number of lights on roads in provinces and cities and management of light systems for advertising and other services have proved inefficient.


The Chief of the MoIT Energy Saving Office, Nguyen Dinh Hiep, says that industry and construction have a great potential for power saving but most small and medium-sized enterprises involved in these two sectors find it difficult to save electricity because they still use outdated technology, which consumes greatly energy and requires huge costs to replace. In addition, technological renovation is an uphill task that needs more time to be dealt with.


Power saving needs a stricter process from production, transmission to consumption.
The Deputy Director of the Electricity of Vietnam (EVN), Dang Hoang An says that by late 2008, EVN reduced the loss of electrical energy to 9.24 percent (under double figures). To reach the goal of reducing electrical energy loss for the following years, a score of measures need to be taken, with a focus on technical management, business administration and an upgrade of electricity networks.


EVN aims to reduce energy losses to below 8 percent by 2012. This is a challenging plan, as the electricity sector is facing a lot of difficulties such limited investments and the improper upgrading of electricity networks.


Another issue of concern is that the economy uses a lot of energy but the efficiency is not high. Vietnam leads many regional countries in electricity consumption, so it is clear that power savings must be in line with a target for reducing electricity use, says An.


An quotes the WB’s survey that efforts to create GDP from 1kWh electricity plants in Vietnam are poor. If Vietnam does not pay attention to saving electricity and natural resources in the next few years the country will face pressure in supply and demand.


Exhausting primary energy


National energy security is closely connected with primary energy. Vietnam will have to import around 30 million tonnes of coal per year by 2020, 57 million in 2025 and 121 million tonnes in 2030. Meanwhile world’s two largest coal producers– Indonesia and Australia – export around 200-210 million tonnes each.


According to EVN, 2015 will be the first year Vietnam will start to import coal. The country will import 30 million tonnes of coal in 2020, equal to one sixth of Indonesia’s total export volume. On December 22, 2010, the Lai Chau hydroelectric power plant will be inaugurated with a capacity of 1,200MW and will be the last big capacity hydroelectric power plant to be built.


The problem is where will Vietnam will buy coal and how the price of electricity will be affected at that time?


He added that it is time to balance energy needs because the country will have to import primary energy in the next five years. Ensuring national energy security, including electricity can happen only when there are proper measures to control supply and demand.


Nguyen Tien Chinh, head of the Department of Scientific Technology and Development Strategy of the Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries Group says that the country should consider carefully how much coal we have, when building thermal electric power plants which use coal. The country does not have clear plans for power savings and pays not enough attention to controlling imported technologies and uses too much energy for cement and steel plants.

Source: VOV

Source: QDND

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Doosan invests US$ 1.3 billion in power plant

In Uncategorized on December 17, 2010 at 1:58 pm




Doosan invests US$ 1.3 billion in power plant


QĐND – Tuesday, December 14, 2010, 20:20 (GMT+7)

Doosan, the parent company of Doosan Vina, specialising in heavy industry and construction, has just signed a contract, valued at US$ 1.3 billion, to build a power plant in Mong Duong, Quang Ninh Province.


Doosan Vina, its subsidiary in Vietnam, already operating a manufacturing plant in the Dung Quat Economic Zone, will play an important role in the contract, according to the company.


Accordingly, Doosan will provide expertise and technology for partners in building, operating and transferring the power plant.


Representatives of Doosan also said that the project will be implemented by the company, AES-VCM and Mong Duong Power Company, in which Doosan is responsible for supplying technology and equipment to build the hi-tech power plant of Mong Duong with a designed capacity of 1,200 mW.  


The construction of the plant is expected to be finished by June 2015, the investors said.


Source: TBKT


Translated by Thu Nguyen


Source: QDND

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Chavez seeks power to rule by decree for 1 year

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 9:44 am

 Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez asked congress Tuesday to grant him special powers to enact laws by decree for one year, just before a new legislature takes office with a larger contingent of opposition lawmakers.


The measure, which quickly received initial approval from the overwhelming majority of pro-Chavez lawmakers, would give the president the authority to bypass the National Assembly for the fourth time since he was first elected almost 12 years ago.


Vice President Elias Jaua made the request on Chavez’s behalf, saying the president will use the authorization to ensure fast-track approval of laws aimed at helping the nation recover from severe flooding and mudslides that left thousands homeless and in government shelters.


“The measures we have to take are deep. Almost 40 percent of the country was affected” by the heavy rains, Jaua said.

Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez carries a baby as he waits for the arrival of Ecuador’s President Rafael Correa at the Fort Tiuna military base in Caracas, Venezuela, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2010.

Only five of the assembly’s 165 lawmakers voted against the proposal Tuesday. The legislature, which is dominated by Chavez allies, is expected to give final approval to the measure before the end of the week.


Chavez’s opponents accuse him of using the natural disaster to impose socialist-inspired measures and undermine the power of newly elected opposition lawmakers.


Hundreds of Chavez opponents protested outside the legislature Tuesday, saying Chavez is violating democratic principles and objecting to other planned laws that could impose regulations on the Internet and endanger Globovision, the country’s last stridently anti-Chavez television channel.


Decrees planned in the next two weeks include laws to speed construction of housing and roads and increase the value-added tax, Jaua said.


“The situation continues to be critical, and we need to tend to it with a set of laws,” Chavez said while visiting a Caracas military base along with President Rafael Correa of Ecuador.


Chavez said he has yet to determine how much to raise the value-added tax, which is now 12 percent. He said the government estimates damage from the heavy rains at about $10 billion.


A draft of the law says Chavez is also seeking powers to issue decrees in areas including the country’s “socio-economic system,” telecommunications, the banking system, information technology, the military, rural and urban land use, and a “new geographical regionalization of the country.”


“All of these laws will be within the framework of the constitution,” Chavez said on state television.


Newly elected opposition lawmaker Julio Borges said the measures being taken up by the National Assembly in its final days go against the will of the voters.


“As elected deputies, we’re asking for a meeting between the new assembly and the old one, so that people are respected — the voters and the constitution,” Borges told reporters.


Chavez announced the plan to seek decree powers Friday, and some critics suggested he intended to push through controversial measures during the holidays while many Venezuelans are focusing on their families.


Opposition newspaper editor Teodoro Petkoff called it a “Christmas ambush,” writing in his daily Tal Cual that Chavez is preparing totalitarian measures that amount to “a brutal attack … against democratic life.”


In his nearly 12 years in office, the leftist Chavez has been granted temporary decree powers three times by lawmakers, in 1999, 2001 and 2007.


The last time, he enjoyed special legislative powers for 18 months and used them to seize control of privately run oil fields, impose new taxes and nationalize telecommunications, electricity and cement companies.

Chavez supporters have dominated the National Assembly since the opposition boycotted 2005 elections, but the opposition gained ground in September elections.

Starting Jan. 5, Chavez will face 66 opponents among the 165 lawmakers, a group large enough to challenge some government measures and prevent him from holding a two-thirds majority — the threshold needed to approve some laws, such as granting the president decree powers.

Source: SGGP

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VN approaches target of all rural households getting access to power

In Uncategorized on December 16, 2010 at 9:29 am




VN approaches target of all rural households getting access to power


QĐND – Friday, December 10, 2010, 20:52 (GMT+7)

Vietnam is likely to reach the target of 100 percent of rural households to get access to electricity for rural households.


World Bank Country Director for Vietnam Victoria Kwakwa made the statement at a seminar to assess the impact of Vietnam’s rural electrification (RE) and the announcement of the result of a survey on the benefit of RE in Hanoi on Dec. 9.


All of the nation’s districts have connected to the national grid and had on-the-spot electricity and 97.78 percent of communes and 95.4 percent of rural families now have electricity, Kwakwa said.


She spoke highly of the joint efforts of the Vietnamese Government, enterprises and people and various resources for rural development, hunger eradication and poverty reduction in the field.


Together with the impact of the education universalisation programme, RE has helped rural people improve their health and income through increasing their families’ production capacity, she added.


However, she said, authorities need to make thorough calculations and give priority to use resources in the context of limited finance and technology to help the remaining five percent of rural families access electricity.


The result of the survey that was conducted in seven provinces of Vietnam in 2002, 2005 and 2008 within the framework of the RE project is an important foundation for WB to consider the decision to provide continued assistance and coordinate with the Vietnamese Government to carry out more power projects, said the seminar.


According to Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Hoang Quoc Vuong, the government is striving to have 100 percent electricity access for rural households by 2020 as planned.


The comprehensive assessment of the impact of rural electrification and the potential for on-the-spot distribution will help the Government, enterprises and people select the most effective investment in network power projects or use on-the-spot power sources.


Source: VNA


Source: QDND

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High reservoir levels promise fewer power cuts

In Uncategorized on November 24, 2010 at 6:21 am




High reservoir levels promise fewer power cuts


QĐND – Tuesday, November 23, 2010, 20:52 (GMT+7)

No power cuts are expected in the near future during peak hours of usage as water levels in reservoirs are sufficiently high, according to Electricity of Vietnam (EVN).


According to the National Meteorology Forecasts Centre, as of November 22, water levels in central and southern reservoirs were 4.7 to 22 metres higher than dead-water levels.


Water levels in northern reservoirs, such as those at Hoa Binh, Tuyen Quang and Song Da hydro-power plants, were seven to 10 metres lower than the same period last year.


Dang Hoang An, deputy general director of EVN, said higher water levels had helped to bring hydro-power plants in Central Highlands and southern provinces to normal operations.


An said a number of thermo-power plants would be suspended for periodic maintenance in preparation for power generation in the dry season of 2011.


To avoid power cuts in peak hours, EVN would continue to purchase electric power from abroad and run plants using expensive fuels such as FO and DO.


He added that EVN had been making plans to release water from reservoirs to irrigate the spring crop in 2011.


EVN’s subsidiaries, in coordination with irrigation companies in the Red River Delta, had been inspecting the irrigations systems to receive sources of water from reservoirs and use them economically.


Source: VNA


Source: QDND

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Obama hails ties with ‘world power’ India

In Uncategorized on November 8, 2010 at 8:51 am

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Power utility guarantees supply

In Uncategorized on November 5, 2010 at 11:22 am