Vietnam asks Foxconn, others, to reduce electricity use as power cuts loom

AppleInsiderAppleInsider
Posted:
in General Discussion edited June 2023

A combination of expanding electricity demand and a fall in capacity means Vietnam is facing a power shortage, and wants iPhone maker Foxconn to limit its use.

Vietnam at night
Vietnam at night



Technology companies have been expanding in Vietnam, in part to move way from over dependence on China, and that expansion is increasing. Apple suppliers Foxconn, BOE, and Quanta, have each separately announced major new facilities in a region that now can't support them.

According to the Wall Street Journal, some of the facilities used by Foxconn, Luxshare, and Samsung, have received requests from electricity companies. Unspecified sources in local manufacturer told the publication that the firms are being asked to consider a schedule of rolling power cuts, or to cut down usage at peak times.

"Too many electronics manufacturers have expanded production in the area during the past year," said one of the sources, "and power consumption is simply skyrocketing."

Alongside the greatly increased demand, Vietnam is facing high temperatures that are causing drought, and reducing hydroelectric power generation.

Neither Apple nor Foxconn have commented, but the Wall Street Journal notes that the iPhone manufacturer has been able to keep its operations running. Foxconn is also said to be looking to build its own power generators in 2024.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 9
    mystigomystigo Posts: 183member
    Apple could build a fuel cell installation similar to the one they have in North Carolina and sell the power back to Foxconn and others. It's only 10 MW, which is less than 1% of a nuclear power plant or hydro dam. but it should be more than enough for its vendors. Apple has enough cash on hand to build 10 nuclear plants but that would not be politically possible in Vietnam. Wind power is an option, but may be politically difficult as well. It would only take 4 turbines to come in around 10 MW. I do think this is Apple's problem to solve. They have to break their dependence on China, and they have to do it soon.
    edited June 2023 baconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 2 of 9
    waveparticlewaveparticle Posts: 1,497member
    mystigo said:
    Apple could build a fuel cell installation similar to the one they have in North Carolina and sell the power back to Foxconn and others. It's only 10 MW, which is less than 1% of a nuclear power plant or hydro dam. but it should be more than enough for its vendors. Apple has enough cash on hand to build 10 nuclear plants but that would not be politically possible in Vietnam. Wind power is an option, but may be politically difficult as well. It would only take 4 turbines to come in around 10 MW. I do think this is Apple's problem to solve. They have to break their dependence on China, and they have to do it soon.
    Why Vietnam is so poor?
  • Reply 3 of 9
    alandailalandail Posts: 757member
    mystigo said:
    Apple could build a fuel cell installation similar to the one they have in North Carolina and sell the power back to Foxconn and others. It's only 10 MW, which is less than 1% of a nuclear power plant or hydro dam. but it should be more than enough for its vendors. Apple has enough cash on hand to build 10 nuclear plants but that would not be politically possible in Vietnam. Wind power is an option, but may be politically difficult as well. It would only take 4 turbines to come in around 10 MW. I do think this is Apple's problem to solve. They have to break their dependence on China, and they have to do it soon.
    why aren't they using solar? And why aren't they installing solar as they build the factories?
    edited June 2023 baconstangwatto_cobra
  • Reply 4 of 9
    NotSoMuchNotSoMuch Posts: 35member
    waveparticle said:
    mystigo said:
    Apple could build a fuel cell installation similar to the one they have in North Carolina and sell the power back to Foxconn and others. It's only 10 MW, which is less than 1% of a nuclear power plant or hydro dam. but it should be more than enough for its vendors. Apple has enough cash on hand to build 10 nuclear plants but that would not be politically possible in Vietnam. Wind power is an option, but may be politically difficult as well. It would only take 4 turbines to come in around 10 MW. I do think this is Apple's problem to solve. They have to break their dependence on China, and they have to do it soon.
    Why Vietnam is so poor?
    Corruption. 
  • Reply 5 of 9
    JFC_PAJFC_PA Posts: 946member
    It’s a bit ironic, opponents to wind and solar often ask the question what to do when the wind stops or the sun sets; well, here is a sad case of what happens when it stops raining.  Yet hydropower has so long seemed the reliable source of energy. 

    Arizona is facing the same quandary. 
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 6 of 9
    welshdogwelshdog Posts: 1,907member
    Giant megawatt scale battery installations could help. They are not the total answer, but they could smooth out some of the shortages. Either the factories could build them for their own use, or the power companies could build them for everyone. Companies are building them like crazy in Texas right now. Of course it's not to help people out, but being done in hopes of capitalizing on the $7000 a kilowatt hour they might get to charge if we have another big winter/summer outage.
    watto_cobra
  • Reply 7 of 9
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,272member
    waveparticle said:
    mystigo said:
    Apple could build a fuel cell installation similar to the one they have in North Carolina and sell the power back to Foxconn and others. It's only 10 MW, which is less than 1% of a nuclear power plant or hydro dam. but it should be more than enough for its vendors. Apple has enough cash on hand to build 10 nuclear plants but that would not be politically possible in Vietnam. Wind power is an option, but may be politically difficult as well. It would only take 4 turbines to come in around 10 MW. I do think this is Apple's problem to solve. They have to break their dependence on China, and they have to do it soon.
    Why Vietnam is so poor?
    China, France, USA, with help from a couple of crooked politicians who used to run post colonial South Vietnam….. And their relationship with China is similar to Mexico’s relationship with the USA, soon Vietnam will join Mexico and have a river that won’t reach the ocean due to a bigger neighbor in the north taking all the water.
  • Reply 8 of 9
    danoxdanox Posts: 3,272member
    JFC_PA said:
    It’s a bit ironic, opponents to wind and solar often ask the question what to do when the wind stops or the sun sets; well, here is a sad case of what happens when it stops raining.  Yet hydropower has so long seemed the reliable source of energy. 

    Arizona is facing the same quandary. 
    The TSMC chip plant, if it was going to be located in the western United States, it should have been located within 50 miles of the Pacific coast, however the best location in the western United States would have been somewhere within 30 miles of the Columbia river basin in eastern Washington or eastern Oregon. (Bend, Oregon or Yakima, Washington?). I believe Apple has a  server facility in Bend, Oregon already.
    edited June 2023
  • Reply 9 of 9
    waveparticlewaveparticle Posts: 1,497member
    danox said:
    waveparticle said:
    mystigo said:
    Apple could build a fuel cell installation similar to the one they have in North Carolina and sell the power back to Foxconn and others. It's only 10 MW, which is less than 1% of a nuclear power plant or hydro dam. but it should be more than enough for its vendors. Apple has enough cash on hand to build 10 nuclear plants but that would not be politically possible in Vietnam. Wind power is an option, but may be politically difficult as well. It would only take 4 turbines to come in around 10 MW. I do think this is Apple's problem to solve. They have to break their dependence on China, and they have to do it soon.
    Why Vietnam is so poor?
    China, France, USA, with help from a couple of crooked politicians who used to run post colonial South Vietnam….. And their relationship with China is similar to Mexico’s relationship with the USA, soon Vietnam will join Mexico and have a river that won’t reach the ocean due to a bigger neighbor in the north taking all the water.
    Egypt built the largest dam in the world. Did the water stop flowing to Cairo? 
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