According to the ministry’s Electricity Regulatory Authority, water levels at hydropower plants, especially at major ones in the north, have been higher than expected, allowing for stable operations. Meanwhile, new power plants have been put into use and electricity purchases from China have been maintained in large volumes.

The ministry has asked Electricity of Vietnam to ensure that there will be no power cuts in June around the country, Deputy Minister Hoang Quoc Vuong was quoted as saying in a report published on the government’s website on Saturday 21 May 2011.

If it’s necessary, the ministry will have thermal power plants increase their generation, despite higher production costs, he said.

Total power output, including imports, reached 43 trillion kilowatt-hours in the first five months, up 10 percent from the same period last year.

The ministry has been saying since April that power outages will not occur. A newspaper reported some blackouts in mid-May but they were due to technical problems in transmission, not production. 

Vietnam is trying to reform its power market and ease its persistent shortage. The government announced last week that its preparations for a competitive power generation market in July have almost been completed.