At a meeting to review the group’s performance in Hanoi on January 3, Anh said the power volume produced and purchased last year reached 212.9 billion kWh, up 2.4 billion kWh from the target set and 10.36 percent from 2017.
These figures have helped Vietnam’s Getting Electricity (GE) indicator jump 37 places to 27th among the 190 economies listed in the World Bank’s Doing Business 2019 report.
EVN was rated BB by Fitch Ratings last year, the executive said, adding that this positive credit rating can help the firm attract investment and power projects.
Additionally, the EVN was named among the sustainable Vietnamese enterprises in 2018 by the Vietnam Business Council for Sustainable Development, and one of the leading state-owned firms in terms of information transparency by the non-profit consulting company Towards Transparency.
Anh reported on the profitable production and business activities for the group last year, elaborating that it gained VND 340.5 trillion (USD 14.6 billion) in total revenue, up 15 percent from 2017. This included nearly VND 333 trillion in electricity sales, up 14.6 percent.
The power supply reliability has also been improved as the System Average Interruption Duration Index (SAIDI) fell 30 percent from the previous year to 723 minutes. The SAIDI of EVN’s subsidiaries declined by 18-39.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the rate of power loss for the whole business is estimated at 6.9 percent, reaching the target set by the Government one year ahead of schedule.
Addressing the meeting, Deputy Prime Minister Trinh Dinh Dung said that the electricity sector is facing the risk of a power shortage as the demand for power is growing fast – rising by upwards of 10 percent each year, exceeding the sector’s supply capacity.
Therefore, the sector needs to make breakthroughs in electricity infrastructure development, he said, asking the EVN to improve its operation effectiveness to reduce power prices, reorganize its apparatus, improve service quality, and ensure environmental protection is maintained at thermal power plants.
The year ahead is predicted to be a difficult one for EVN. However, the group still targets a 9.2-percent increase to hit 232.5 billion kWh in the electricity produced and purchased in 2019 so as to prepare for higher demand.
It also aims to reduce the SAIDI to 400 minutes and the power loss rate to 6.7 percent next year, Anh said.
Source: VNA