Northerners are set to endure a spell of hot and dry weather on July 10-11 before rain starts on June 12, said Nguyen Van Huong, an official of the National Centre of Hydro-meteorological Forecasting.

High rainfall will help improve water levels in hydropower reservoirs in the North, he added.

The prolonged hot and dry weather has over the past weeks caused water levels in the river and lake system in the north to fall sharply.

Limited water flows into reservoirs have made it impossible for hydro-electric power plants to operate normally. Eleven such plants were said to suspend operations on June 8 as water levels in the reservoir fell to the dead level.

However, power supply has partially improved when small hydro-electric power plants resumed operations thanks to heavy rain on June 8-9.

In addition, a number of thermal power plants such as Quang Ninh, Nghi Son 1, and Thai Binh 2 have completed handling incidents, supplying an additional 1,000MW to the national power grid.

Water levels in reservoirs are expected to rise quickly as soon as heavy downpours start on June 12, helping to address power shortages that have thrown business production and people’s daily life into chaos over the past days.

Source: VOV