Siemens and Marubeni have won the bids for Egat’s Chana and Wang Noi power-plant projects. Sutat Patmasiriwat, governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, revealed that Siemens of Germany had won the bid for construction of Phase 2 of the Chana plant in Songkhla, and Marubeni of Japan for Phase 4 of the Wang Noi plant in Ayutthaya.
Each project will cost Bt20 billion and they are now under construction. The deadline for completion is before April 2014.
Egat has indicated that the projects will increase the production capacity of each plant by 800 megawatts. In addition, the authority will need to invest in upgrading the electrical-distribution lines.
It is projected that both plants will be connected to the grid in 2014, but there are concerns that the target completion dates will not be met, as protests from nearby villagers have not been resolved. If there are delays, there could be risks of future electricity shortages, because the present reserves of 9 per cent may not be sufficient. Once the two plants come on stream, the reserves will increase to 15 per cent, and that level is expected to meet the predicted growth of the economy.
Sutat said Egat would also consider investing in upgrades to the power plant at Mae Mo in Lampang province.
Source and Read more…http://www.nationmultimedia.com/business/Egat-picks-Marubeni-Siemens-30172788.html
