‘Smart’ micro power grids to be tested over next five years

The National Energy Policy Council has approved the Master Plan for Thailand Smart Grid Development (2015-2036), which is expected to involve a total investment of about Bt200 billion for the 20-year period. 
Twarath said between three and five pilot projects, two |of them in |Mae Hong Son province, would be implemented during the first five years by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA).
Egat has chosen  Muang district of Mae Hong Son to trial its first smart-grid project, while PEA has selected Mae Sariang in the same province and Betong in Yala. 
The MEA, meanwhile, is eyeing some industrial estates in its coverage area, which comprises Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan, to test a smart grid. 
These pioneer smart-grid projects are expected to reduce peak power demand by a total of 350 megawatts.
Private companies will be allowed to invest in smart-grid projects in the future, he said.
The smart grids’ objectives are to enhance energy security, improve productivity and services through information and |communication technology, and move towards a more sustainable, low-carbon economy, with greater use of renewable resources.
Pongsakorn Yuthagovit, PEA deputy director for system planning, said the electricity distribution utility chose Mae Sariang to trial its smart micro-grid project because the district has one of the highest records of power outages in the country. 
National security is another reason, as the military would like the district, which shares a border with Myanmar, to have a more reliable power supply.
The target is to cut the number of outages in Mae Sariang from 755 minutes per user per year in 2014 to 150 minutes per user per year after the micro-grid project is commenced in 2019.
“It could be even lower, since technology has continued to progress. The number of outages could come down to as low as Chiang Mai’s,” he said.
The PEA is preparing to hire a consultant and expects to start constructing the Mae Sariang micro grid from the fourth quarter of next year, taking about 18 months to complete.
Pongsakorn said the Bt265-million micro-grid project was expected to yield an annual financial return of negative 8-9 per cent. However, the loss would be lower if it includes savings from the deferment of a high-voltage transmission-line project to connect the district to the national grid.
Furthermore, battery prices have shrunk remarkably since 2012 when the PEA conducted the feasibility study on the micro-grid project, which includes an energy-storage facility.
“If this project succeeds, it will encourage communities to build their own [small] power plants that will help reduce the state’s investment burden,” the PEA official said.
Twarath said smart grids would have to prove that they could become an alternative to transmission lines, and if so, could lead to an amendment of the national Power Development Plan to bring down the country’s investment costs for electricity transmission.
“Instead of building a lot of transmission lines, we could build more micro grids,” he said.
An Egat official said it chose Mae Hong Son for its pilot |projects because the province has a lot of highlands and forest fires, resulting in frequent blackouts and difficulties in building |power lines. 
Egat will invest Bt720 million on the smart-grid project, which includes an expansion of its Pha Bong solar farm and diesel-powered generating stations, installation of a 4MW energy-storage system, a micro energy management system, smart billboards, a building energy management system, an electric-vehicle charging station, and a smart-grid learning centre in Muang district.
The system will be remotely controlled from a centre at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. Chula is a consultant for the project, whose terms of reference will be issued for interested bidders next month.