Rain brings W. Cup relief to Vietnam

Rain brings W. Cup relief to Vietnam

HANOI (Reuters): Water levels in the reservoir of Vietnam's biggest hydroelectric power plant are rising after good rains and electricity cuts are to be relaxed.

"Don't worry about power cuts. You'll have power to watch World Cup matches," an official from the northern Hoa Binh power station, which supplies 42.6 percent of the country's electricity, told Reuters.

"Water levels are going up gradually because the rainy season has started," he added.

The World Cup soccer tournament gets underway in France on June 10 and Vietnam newspapers have been filled with letters from anxious fans worried that power cuts would disrupt coverage.

A lack of rain has caused key power plant reservoirs to shrink, forcing blackouts across the country. The government has introduced measures urging thrift in energy consumption and banning non-essential power use.

Hanoi residential areas endured power cuts of 12 hours a day last week after the electricity supply for the city was cut back.

But water levels at the Hoa Binh reservoir were 1.76 meters above a so-called critical level of 80 meters yesterday, the official said. The water level was 81.36 meters on Sunday.

A complete shutdown of the plant would have come had water levels fallen to 75 meters, officials have previously said.

State utility Electricity of Vietnam announced a new power distribution scheme effective from Tuesday which will ease up on power cuts imposed last month, local media reported yesterday.

The plant official said Hoa Binh, which lies 70 km (44 miles) from the capital Hanoi, produced 13 million kilowatt hours (kwh) of electricity on Sunday, three million kwh more than last week's daily average output.

Hydro-power accounts for around 63 percent of total generated electricity in Vietnam.