Hydropower owners on the Vu Gia–Thu Bồn basin say rainfall is down by 40 percent and reservoirs are far from full

Hydropower operators on the Vu Gia–Thu Bồn river system say this year's rainfall has fallen far short, and that refilling their reservoirs before the 2027 dry season is now a hard target. Thanh Niên reported their figures on 7 November, a day after Da Nang asked the national power operator to hold five plants back until 11 November.

The city government rates the risk of drought, water shortage and saltwater intrusion as high to very high, especially on this basin. The five plants named in the city's request are A Vương, Sông Bung 2, Sông Bung 4, Đăk Mi 4 and Sông Tranh 2.

At Sông Tranh 2, director Vũ Đức Toàn said average basin rainfall over the first ten months of 2026 was about 2,100 mm, or 60 percent of the 3,600 mm recorded a year earlier. Inflow to the reservoir averaged 60 cubic metres a second, 44 percent of last year's level. In September and October alone it averaged 97 cubic metres a second, 45 percent below the long-term mean.

At 7 am on 4 November the reservoir stood at 148.13 metres, 26.87 metres below its normal full level, a shortfall of about 430 million cubic metres. Last year at this time it was full at 175 metres. Mr Toàn said the plant had generated 425 million kWh by the end of October, and expects about 533 million kWh for the year, roughly 80 percent of plan.

Ngô Xuân Thế, deputy general director of A Vương Hydropower, said rainfall in the basin since the rainy season began is 273 mm, against 884 mm in the same period last year. He said the power system has had to run oil-fired units so reservoirs can keep filling, and that even so reaching normal levels will be difficult. The plants must also keep supplying minimum water to downstream areas and maintain environmental flows.

Mr Thế said revenue and profit are unlikely to match favourable years, and the aim for 2027 is safe operation and sharing stored water for downstream supply. Forecasts cited in the report suggest rainfall may stay below average until September 2027.

Sources

• El Nino đe dọa nguồn nước, các chủ hồ thủy điện ở Đà Nẵng nói gì? (Thanh Niên, November 7, 2026, in Vietnamese)

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