Hue seems to be getting the shutdowns more organized and has cut them to alternate half days - 6am to 1pm and 1pm to 7pm depending on the electrical sub-district you are in. They have published this at least through this Sunday and it remains to be sen how reliable their schedule is. Despite the sarcastic postings on my last message, this is real.
1
hanno
They have started rationing power in a few places now (Ha Noi, Can Tho), problem is that the reservoirs are almost empty.
2
flightmedicine
Hi, talked with my Brother in Law in downtown Hue last night. He said that the shortage of electricity has not effected the downtown business part of Hue, only the outlineing areas at the moment are effected.
3
bambooboy
Don't know where your brother-in-law is located but I've been here for a week now and, trust me, its the whole city and all the districts of Thua Thien Hue Province
4
biblioguy
Apparently, US and Vietnamese forecasters are predicting a lot of rain in SE Asia over the the next few months as a result of the La Nina weather pattern that is setting up now.
Here's a link to an article in the Vietnam News. Looks like this problem may be short lived as the reservoirs may be filling up soon. Also looks like I might be getting wet when I visit Vietnam at the end of May.
La Nina
5
violets
We had a half day power cut in Da Lat a few days ago. It seems to have been raining a lot already (Da Lat on Sunday and Monday, Nha Trang on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday and Hue for some of that time, though it's fine now). I gather this is not usual.
6
froude1
It seems the resevoirs go near empty every year as the power needs increase,but the rains come and bail everybody out.Many Many Hydro projects underway at this time in Vietnam,google the subject matter and you all will get a wider view of the problem and the proposed solutions.I made fun of the original post when the poster suggested that a "special" power grid had been set up for some customers.If you are a hotel or restaurant I would believe you might invest in your own generator as many have
7
bambooboy
Glad to see you got out of bed today froude1. There is a seperate grid for commercial properties (in Hue at least). It's an extra set of cables on the power poles. Difficult to get a good translation but the locals say "we pay more for three wires" whatever this means - 3 phase possibly. Most of the stores and restaurents and smaller hotels operate out of what are essentialy residential buildings and choose to pay a lower rate. The problem with rains bailing everybody out is that they didn't come in Central VN last rainy season (another sign of global climate thange?) hence the threat of cuts all summer. Have not seen the La Nina predictions yet but this may only impact next rainy season. Friends in Hanoi report similar situation but I'm in Saigon today and they say all ok down here. Probably because this is the economic dynamo and the international investment fallout would be catastrophic.
Either way, the real important message here is how close to the edge we are all living with power consumption and this may just be the beginning of a radical change in the way we are going to live and our views on environmentaly sensative sources of power.
Pro tip
Lonely Planet
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