Thailand Plans To Raise Gas, Coal Usage At New Pwr Plants

Thailand Plans To Raise Gas, Coal Usage At New Pwr Plants

BANGKOK – Thailand plans to increase the usage of natural gas and coal to fuel new power plants, a senior official at state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand said Thursday.

In 2010, Thailand’s usage of natural gas for power generation is expected to rise to 2,661 million standard cubic feet a day from 2,094 mmscf/d, EGAT Deputy Governor for Fuel Payap Pongpirodom said, while coal consumption is forecast to rise to 19.9 million metric tons from 17.5 million tons.

However, the plan is subject to approval from the Energy Ministry, and EGAT will soon submit the plan to the ministry, Payap said, adding that EGAT plans to reduce the country’s consumption of the relatively more expensive fuel oil and diesel.

The usage of natural gas for power generation is expected to account for 70% of Thailand’s fuel mix in 2007, up from 68% at present, and is expected to remain at 70% until 2021.

At the same time, the usage of coal for power generation will rise significantly to minimize the risk of over reliance on natural gas, Payap said.

Coal-fired electricity is expected to rise to 27% in 2021 from 19%, he added.

At the same time, the usage of fuel oil for power generation is forecast to plummet to 890 million liters in 2010, from 2,000 liters/year, while diesel consumption is expected to fall to 17.4 million liters, almost half the current 34.3 million liters.

From 2007-2010, four new EGAT-built power plants with a combined capacity of 2,800 megawatts will begin operations.

From 2012, 11 new power plants with a combined capacity of 7,700 megawatts are scheduled to come online to meet an expected rise in power consumption. Of the 11 new plants, five will be built by EGAT and six will be built by private companies.

From 2012, EGAT also plans to buy 5,000 megawatts a year of electricity from Laos, up from 3,000 megawatts. Negotiations with Laotian agencies are expected to take place in December, Payap said.

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