IPP projects using clean coal planned
The Energy Ministry is preparing to call for bids on independent power producer (IPP) projects to supply electricity from clean-coal technology, now that the schedule for planned nuclear power plants to start providing electricity has been delayed by six
Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said the ministry had yet to determine the number of IPPs or the required production capacity, pending a complete revision of the power-development plan by the Energy Policy and Planning Office.
He added that clean coal power was the answer for the country’s future power management.
Thailand relies too heavily on natural gas to produce electricity, the minister said. Natural gas accounts for 70 per cent of electricity production in Thailand.
The government has postponed the expected date for planned nuclear plants to start feeding electricity to the system to 2023 from 2020 after the previous government postponed it from 2017 to 2020.
Pichai said clean-coal technology had been accepted in foreign countries and he believed producing electricity this way would improve IPPs’ relationships with the communities in which their projects are located.
