Workers at EVN's Ha Dong Electricity Company check power cables. EVN predicted that electricity consumption in the capital would increase sharply this month due to hot weather. — VNA/VNS Photo Ngoc Ha

HA NOI (Biz Hub) — Electricity consumption in the capital city was forecast to sharply increase this month due to extremely hot weather, said the Electricity of Viet Nam Corporation (EVN).

The corporation has also warned that households' bills might be much higher due to the high demand of power this summer.

According to the weather forecast agency, people would suffer a severe and prolonged hot weather this summer due to El Nino phenomenon.

"There would be hot waves this month and June and July. The hottest temperature might be reached to 40 degrees Celsius," the EVN said.

"The hot weather would lead to increase of power consumption", it said.

At present, the electric price is calculated in progressive scale. So, the more they use the more they have to pay.

People are advised to use power economically.

This year is the first time the EVN has given the warning of power payment to people. People were shocked when they got bills with higher payment in summer last year.

When applying the new electric fee scale last year and people complained of to pay much, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce asked the EVN and the Electricity Regulatory Authority of Viet Nam to set up plans of power price adjustment.

Three plans were drawn up but so far there is no one approved.

LED lighting

The Ha Noi People's Committee has urged relevant agencies to review the public lighting system of the entire city and move towards using LED lighting to save electricity.

LED (light-emitting diode) bulbs have many advantages, including efficiency, longer life expectancy, durability, safety and saving energy. LED technology emits white light at a low cost.

LED bulbs will be used in public works, roads and urban areas. The committee has also asked the municipal districts, the Department of Construction and the Department of Transportation to prioritise replacing the existing lower-quality street lighting systems with LED products. The agencies have been told not to use incandescent and halogen lamps in public lighting systems. The Department of Construction has also been asked to undertake the measures necessary to raise the efficiency of public lighting works.

The city pays VND260 billion (US$11.66 million) to light the streets each year. LED lights are expected to reduce spending to VND90-120 billion ($4-5.38 million). In 2015, Ha Noi saved some 325 million kWh of electricity thanks to the National Target Programme on Economical and Efficient Use of Energy. The city aims to cut energy consumption by 2-3 per cent this year compared to the demand forecast, to reach its goal of lowering the energy-to-GDP elasticity to 0.95 per cent by 2020 from 1.48 per cent last year. — VNS