TUESDAY, March 19, 2024
nationthailand

Egat awaits new energy minister before finalising crude palm oil purchase

Egat awaits new energy minister before finalising crude palm oil purchase

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has slowed down procurement of another 100,000 tons of crude palm oil (CPO) as required by a Cabinet resolution, as it is waiting for the new energy minister's policy.

Tawatchai Jakpaisal, Egat's deputy governor for fuel, cited the Cabinet's resolution on July 14, which asked Egat to consider buying 100,000 tonnes of CPO for reserve in electricity generaion and to absorb excess stock.

Egat recently told the Ministry of Energy that they should wait for the policy from the new Minister of Energy.

The bidding for the purchase of the remaining 37,550 tons of CPO has been done as specified by the Department of Internal Trade at Bt23.25 per kilogram. When calculated together with the transportation cost of Bt0.90 per kilogram, the purchase of this CPO would require a total budget of Bt900 million.

Last year, Egat had procured CPO in accordance with the government's policy to help farmers, totalling 360 billion tons, using a budget of over Bt5 billion. Egat has already received more than Bt2 billion from the government. The remaining approximately Bt2.2 million has been requested by Egat before proceeding with purchases in the future.

Egat recently received financial support from the government -- Bt525 million from the fiscal year budget, Bt1.2 billion credit for the public service account but recently approved only Bt829 million.

Egat's three-year LNG import plan targeted 0.4 million tons at the end of the 2021, 1.9 million tons in 2022 and 1.5 million tons in 2023. The import quantity will have to be reviewed according to the situation or change in policy from the new energy minister.

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