Shortage of Rain May Lead to Power Outages in Northeast Thailand

Nov 19 - Bangkok Post

Nov. 20--The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has warned that drought conditions in the Northeast could affect power generation next year.

Egat deputy governor Narongsak Vichetphan said the authority was preparing solutions for a possible power supply shortage in the northeastern region.

The power utility was negotiating with the Royal Irrigation Department to manage water flow in dams to ensure fair distribution for agriculture, human consumption, and power generation.

Mr Narongsak said power demand in the Northeast was projected to grow by 6 percent a year. The region's peak demand hit 2,200 megawatts this year.

Hydropower plants in the region include the 500-MW Lam Takong dam in Nakhon Ratchasima, the 136-MW Pak Moon dam in Ubon Ratchathani, the 230-MW Nam Thuen-Hin Boun and the 126-MW Huay Hoh project in Laos.

However, the hydropower projects faced low water reserves from this year's severe drought. Low water levels were expected to continue well into 2005.

The Nam Phong power plant, a major gas-fired power project in Khon Kaen with a capacity of 710 MW, has also operated at only half of its total capacity due to dwindling natural gas reserves at Nam Phong field.

Mr Narongsak said Egat was expanding its transmission lines from the Central region to the Northeast so it could supply electricity to the northeastern provinces in case of a power shortage there.

In addition, the authority would negotiate with environmentalists and NGOs to postpone the opening of the Pak Moon dam's spillway to May from April.

Activists have called for an April opening to allow for spring fish migrations.

"If the opening of the dam's spillways could be postponed for a month it would ease the negative impact on power generation," Mr Narongsak said.

An Egat source said the utility's management also planned to negotiate with the Huay Hoh project's operators to reserve water for the dry season next year.

Egat also planned to ask US-based Amerada Hess (Thailand) Co, the concession holder for the Phu Horm gas field in Udon Thani, and PTT Plc, a gas buyer, to speed up production to boost the supply for the Nam Phong power plant.

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