Hydropower profits up, thermal and gas plants flounder

By Anh Minh January 23, 2022 | 01:28 am PT

A hydroelectric power plant run by the Southern Hydropower Company in the Lam Dong Province. Photo courtesy of Southern Hydropower Company

Many hydropower plants made bigger year-on-year profits in 2021, while that of coal and gas-fired power plants decreased or remained flat.

Electricity consumption rose by just four percent last year due to the impact of Covid-19 outbreaks, while more renewable energy projects became operational. The combined operational capacity of renewable energy projects was 27 percent of the total electricity capacity.

The Southern Hydropower Company, which currently has three plants with a total capacity of 122.5 MW in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong, recorded net revenues of VND658 billion ($28.6 million) in 2021, up 53 percent, and after-tax profits of VND265 billion, four times higher than in 2020.

Its bigger revenues and profits are mainly attributed to an increase of 49 percent in electricity output and a rise of nearly three percent rise in electricity prices.

The Hua Na Hydropower Company earned after-tax profits of more than VND131 billion in 2021, nearly quadruple that of 2020, with revenues of VND691 billion, up 14 percent year-on-year.

Meanwhile, the A Vuong Hydropower Company’s after-tax profits surged nearly 84 percent to over VND342 billion after its revenues rose nearly 30 percent to more than VND682 billion.

However, many thermal power plants reported smaller profits in 2021, mainly due to lower consumption and competition from renewable energy projects.

The Hai Phong Thermal Power Company made revenues of VND8.979 trillion and after-tax profits of VND443 billion in 2021, both smaller than 2020; while the PetroVietnam Power Nhon Trach 2 Company, which runs a gas-fired power plant in the southern province of Dong Nai, made after-tax profits of VND515 billion last year, down 18 percent year-on-year.

The SSI Securities Corporation has predicted that electricity consumption in 2022 will increase 9 percent year-on-year if Vietnam’s economy grows 6.5 percent this year.

It also expects thermal power plants to perform better than gas-fired ones this year, earning bigger profit. While prices of both coal and gas are likely to increase, the hike will be smaller for coal, the firm says.

After adding 3,420 megawatts of power capacity last year, Vietnam now leads Southeast Asia with 76,620 MW. It represented a 9.8 percent increase in capacity, CEO of national utility Vietnam Electricity (EVN), Tran Dinh Nhan.

EVN expects power consumption to rise by 7.6 percent this year to 242.4 billion kilowatt-hours.