HANOI, June 21 (Reuters) - Vietnam's power generation capacity and daily consumption have hit new record high amid a heatwave, state-run utility EVN said on Friday.
The Southeast Asian industrial hub has this year been ramping up coal burning and expanding its generation capacity and grid to avoid a repeat of last year's crippling blackouts.
Actual power generation capacity nationwide hit 49.53 gigawatts (GW) on Wednesday, EVN said in a statement. This is higher than the previous record of 47.67 GW on April 27.
Daily power consumption hit 1.03 billion kWh on Friday last week, higher than the previous record of 1.009 billion kWh on May 29, according to EVN.
"Intense heat, particularly in northern and central areas, has driven up power consumption in mid-June with temperatures staying above 35 degree Celsius (95°F) for several days in the month," EVN said.
The company on Friday repeated its call on consumers to save power, by refraining from using several large devices simultaneously and setting air conditioners below 26 degree Celsius.
(Reporting by Khanh Vu Editing by Ed Davies)
