Xinhua News Agency
September 13, 1999

HANOI (Sept. 13) XINHUA – The Vietnamese government has decided to revise down the country’s power output target of this year because of slackening consumption. Vietnam’s Ministry of Planning and Investment has agreed to a proposal by Electricity of Vietnam (EVN) to revise down the year’s power output target, according to a report of Vietnam’s English newspaper The Saigon Times Daily on Monday.

Early this year, the EVN set a target of producing and buying a total power of 24.38 billion kilowatt hours, but now wants to adjust it down to 23.47 billion kilowatt hours and reduce the year’s sales target to 19.18 billion kilowatt hours from 19.88 billion.

The regional financial and economic crisis has resulted in a business slowdown in the country, which has in turn affected power consumption, and that early rain has eased electricity demand, said EVN.

The EVN is expected to cut annual power production from 27 billion kilowatt hours to less than 26 billion next year.

With regard to the current consumption level, the domestic demand for power should be met by 2005 when the power plants now under construction are commissioned.

In this period, new power projects will not be encouraged to avoid oversupply.