HANOI (Reuters) – Vietnam will generate more electricity from coal and oil this year to compensate for an expected drop in output from hydropower plants because of a lack of rain, the government said on Friday.
The Southeast Asian country, which has one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia, is increasingly reliant on climate-warming fossil fuels to support its growth.
Output from hydropower plants is estimated to be 2.67 billion kilowatt hours (kWh) below target this year, the government said in a statement on its website.
“Unfavorable weather conditions are forecast to result in lower-than-expected water flows to hydropower dams in 2020,” the government said.
The government will raise the output of coal-fired power plants by 1.9 billion kWh and oil-fired plants by 1.23 billion kWh compared with its previous plan, the statement said.
“The move is aimed at sufficiently supplying electricity for supporting socio-economic development,” the government said.
Vietnam’s coal imports, mostly from Australia and Indonesia, nearly doubled last year to 43.85 million tonnes, valued at $3.79 billion, the government’s customs data showed.
