The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) will submit to the Energy Ministry a revision of the national power plan highlighting replacement of proposed nuclear power plants with the use of clean coal.
The existing 2010-2020 national power development plan includes the construction of five nuclear plants, the first to be in operation in 2020.
However, Egat governor Sutas Patamasiriwat said Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan was considering non-nuclear alternatives for power generation such as clean coal and natural gas from overlapping Thailand-Cambodia claims in the Gulf of Thailand.
In a separate matter, Sutas said electricity consumption in Thailand this year now was expected to increase 2 per cent rather than the 4 per cent forecast previously, which could affect Egat’s revenue.
Regarding Egat’s plan to construct a second power plant in north Bangkok, he said the project was awaiting examination by the National Economic and Social Development Board before being forwarded to the Cabinet for approval. The plant is to cost Bt20 billion.
If approved, Egat is expected to begin seeking bidders for the construction next year, and the plant will start operation in 2015.
He said Egat was worried that power supply would be inadequate by 2013 because of no new sources in the system. In 2014, two power plants, the Chana 2 plant and Wang Noi 4 plant, will begin supplying power. Even so, power reserves will still be only 15 per cent, rather than the appropriate level of 20 per cent.
However, this should be enough to ensure that there is power shortage that year, Sutas said.
Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/home/Egat-to-submit-non-nuclear-proposal-30164086.html
