Vietnam Requests Foxconn to Voluntarily Cut Electricity Use by 30% at Apple Assembly Plant to Prevent Major Power Outages

During the summer of 2023, Vietnam faced a severe power shortage due to hot weather, leading to large-scale blackouts that had a significant impact on enterprises located in the country.

Starting from May last year, Vietnam began to experience power shortages, with most areas, including the capital city of Hanoi, implementing rolling blackouts. This severely affected the production and operations of foreign companies such as Samsung and Foxconn.

As one of Apple's suppliers, Foxconn was severely affected by the power shortage last year, resulting in a decline in production capacity and losses of over $1 billion.

To avoid a repeat of last summer's blackouts, Vietnam has urged Foxconn to voluntarily reduce its power consumption by 30% at its assembly plant in northern Vietnam. This is a precautionary measure, and Foxconn's normal production has not been affected so far.

Foxconn, also known as Hon Hai Precision, has multiple factories in Vietnam, with its Bac Ninh factory responsible for assembling Apple products. The local power department has urged industrial parks to implement power-saving measures.

To meet the high demand for power during the summer peak season, Vietnam has delayed maintenance work on its thermal power plants and is increasing energy-saving measures and importing more coal to prevent supply problems.

It's not just Foxconn that has received the notification, as its power consumption is not the highest. It's estimated that many large factories have received similar notifications to reduce power consumption.

For Vietnam, the power supply issue is a key factor affecting foreign investment. The Vietnamese government has promised investors that it will ensure that such situations do not happen again.

The foreign business community in Vietnam is calling on the government to provide a stable and reliable power supply, with the Korean Chamber of Commerce stating that the uncertainty of power supply will delay investments in related semiconductor industries.