The state-owed Electricity of Vietnam Group (EVN) loses over VND3 trillion (USD142.61 million) from selling low-cost electricity to the steel and cement industries per year.

The steel industry has benefited from low-cost power supplies 

According to the State Audit of Vietnam (SAV)’s recent report, these two industries consumed nearly 9.5 billion kWh of electricity in 2010, accounting for 11.06% of EVN’s power sales during the year.

However, power prices for these industries in 2010 were only VND914 per kWh, 22.73% lower than the national average power price of VND1,183 per kWh during the year.

This means that EVN incurred a loss of VND2.547 trillion (USD121.07 million) due to low-cost electricity sales to the steel and cement industries in 2010, the SAV noted.

The SAV emphasised that improper steel and cement planning may bankrupt electricity planning, resulting in more power shortage and more dependence on high-cost power sources.

Despite that the Government has given priority to the electricity sector in order to hasten power projects, many of them are still lagged behind schedule.

Sluggish construction has resulted in lower efficiency and more power shortages, the agency added.