Metropolitan Electricity Authority to power Bangkok’s Red Line electric train trial run
The Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA), a state power distribution arm, will start feeding electricity to the Red Line electric train system during its trial run by the end of this year.
The power supply is part of a modern power distribution system being installed by the MEA at Bang Sue central station spanning 2,235 rai of land in Bangkok, MEA deputy governor Somchai Homlinkaew said yesterday.
The government is developing Bang Sue into a new transport hub in the capital, combining key new electric rail routes. One is the Red Line, which links Bang Sue and Rangsit in northern Bangkok over a 26km distance and connects Bang Sue and Taling Chan in western Bangkok on a 15km length.
Mr Somchai said the MEA was assigned by the State Railway of Thailand to develop power distribution management, called Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA), which enables officials to better control power distribution.
The new power distribution system, worth 1.27 billion baht, is designed to meet a load requirement of 1,800 megavolt amperes (MVA), 7.5 times higher than that of industrial estates.
Under the first-phase development, 900 MVA will be used for the test run of the Red Line system, Mr Somchai said.
The trains were delivered from Japan last November.
In the second phase, 300 MVA is scheduled for other new electric rail lines.
Meanwhile, B.Grimm Plc has teamed up with the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), the state power distribution arm overseeing power supply upcountry, and its subsidiary PEA Encom International in a move to promote power purchases under the small power producer (SPP) scheme.
B.Grimm signed a memorandum of understanding with the PEA and PEA Encom International to support its plan to directly sell electricity to prospective customers.
“This collaboration is expected to cause leading players in the power sector to cooperate technically and financially to form new ventures,” said B.Grimm Group chairman Harald Link.
He said ventures in the micro-grid system are also under the company’s business plan to enhance its competitiveness.
The move is also expected to help save at least 1 billion baht investment in future transmission lines and other equipment.
Earlier this year, B.Grimm was granted a licence to operate LNG shipping in Thailand.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1997879/mea-to-power-red-line-electric-train-trial-run
