A protracted heat wave that has been sweeping northern Vietnam since the start of the month sent power consumption in the region to a new height on July 2, the national power utility EVN has reported. Line workers are repairing an electrical grid The combined loads peaked at an all-time high of 16,665 megawatts, while the total consumption also hit a record 345 million kWh, up roughly 12 pct compared with the highest levels of 2017 and beating the previous records set on June 22. In the capital of Hanoi, the total loads also hit a record high of 3,987 megawatts and total usage reached 79.3 million kWh. Most of the electricity was supplied for air-conditioners and other cooling equipment, leading to overloads and power cuts in several locations. According to the national weather service, temperatures as high as 40 degree Celcius and above will continue for another two to three days. Therefore, EVN has advised its customers to use electricity economically and avoid using … [Read more...] about Power usage in northern Vietnam hits record as sweltering heat wave continues
Northern vietnam
Lives of many people at stake in flood-prone northern Vietnam
He is an unnamed Thai man. Not a Thai national, but a member of Thai ethnic minority, one of 54 such communities in Vietnam. He’s 30 years old, and lives with his wife and children next to a stream in the mountainous Phong Tho District in Lai Chau Province. The land his family lives on was handed over from his parents. Their house, or what passes for a house, is a cluster of bamboo beams shooting up from the ground and covered with a “roof” of plastic sheets, that shields the family from the elements. Every day, his wife does all the work: from babysitting to feeding the cattle to tending the house, while he just sleeps, wakes up, drinks, then sleeps some more. I asked him why he decided to settle here. This area is highly vulnerable to flash floods, as it is only a couple meters away from a nearby stream. If a flood did occur there would be no time to react. The only way out is through an old, rusty bridge across the stream itself, and if one gets to the other side, … [Read more...] about Lives of many people at stake in flood-prone northern Vietnam
Northern Vietnam port city wants second sea-crossing bridge
The northern city of Hai Phong just proposed to spend VND7 trillion ($312.5 million) from its budget to build the city’s second cross-sea bridge due to heightened traffic demands. The proposal was made at an online governmental conference on Monday. The proposed bridge, Tan Vu – Lach Huyen Bridge 2, named after two major ports at opposite ends, will lighten the heavy traffic being borne by the first bridge, city officials said. The city’s flourishing tourism sector has seen traffic exerting more pressure on the Tan Vu – Lach Huyen Bridge 1 than it can bear, they said. Nguyen Van Tung, head of the Hai Phong People’s Committee, also asked the government to provide the city with an additional 220 kV power station on Cat Hai Island and permit construction of another train station near the Cat Bi International Airport for the same reason. The Tan Vu - Lach Huyen Bridge 1, which links Cat Hai Island and the city’s eastern port of Dinh Vu, opened last … [Read more...] about Northern Vietnam port city wants second sea-crossing bridge
First deepwater seaport in northern Vietnam inaugurated
First deepwater seaport in northern Vietnam inauguratedLe Anh The first container is handled at Haiphong International Container Terminal, which officially started operation on May 13 - PHOTO: JICA HCMC – Haiphong International Container Terminal, the first deepwater seaport in the north of Vietnam, was put into operation on May 13 in Haiphong City. The port, 25 kilometers from the city center, has two berths totaling 750 meters in length able to handle vessels of 14,000 twenty-foot-equivalent units (TEUs) or 160,000 tons. The port’s cargo throughput is estimated at 1.1 million TEUs per year. The port was developed by a joint venture between Saigon New Port Corporation, Japan’s Mitsui O.S.K Lines Co Ltd and Itochu Corporation, and Taiwan’s Wan Hai Lines Co Ltd, which hold respective stakes of 51%, 17.5%, 15% and 16.5%. Thanks to the seaport, the northern region’s exports will be directly shipped to Europe and America by big vessels, … [Read more...] about First deepwater seaport in northern Vietnam inaugurated
Three family members found dead in house fire in northern Vietnam
April 22, 2018 | 12:58 pm GMT+7 The fire broke out inside the house, which was also an electronics store. Photo by VnExpress/Viet Linh Neighbors heard screams of a mother and her two children in the early hours on Sunday. A mother and her two children were found dead after a fire ripped through their house early Sunday morning in northern Vietnam. Neighbors were awakened at 2 a.m. by the screams of the trapped victims when the fire broke out inside the house, which was also an electronics store in Y Yen District, Nam Dinh Province. Attempts to save the family failed as the flames quickly engulfed the foam-insulated iron corrugated roofing house. The fire was only put out an hour later by the police, who found the bodies of three victims identified as Pham Thi Thao, the 36-year-old mother, and her two children, Do Thanh Xuan, 10, and Do Tan Dung, 6. The house was filled with fabric and electronic devices at the time of the fire, which the authorities believe made the … [Read more...] about Three family members found dead in house fire in northern Vietnam