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.
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.
-----
To see more of the Bangkok Post, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.bangkokpost.com
.
(c) 2004, Bangkok Post, Thailand. Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content,
contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213)
237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.