More public cooperation sought amid worries about surge in power demand
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Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal raised concern about electricity reserves on Tuesday and Wednesday, when demand is expected to rise by about 1,450MW each day.
He hoped that public cooperation would help boost reserves by 700MW each day, resulting in at least 2,000MW of reserve on the two days.
The Energy Ministry had earlier expected yesterday’s rising temperatures to peak power demand and put pressure on power reserves. However, power reserves yesterday stabilised at 2,450MW, much higher than the expected 1,500MW, which would have triggered a brownout or blackout in some areas.
The Energy Minister said that after evaluating the system yesterday following the halt in delivery of natural gas from Myanmar, the peak level electricity usage stood at 24,955MW, which is 1,700MW lower than the target. This is because the general public and industrial entrepreneurs had cooperated and cut down energy usage during the period. Of the 1,700MW saved yesterday, about 1,000MW came from the industrial sector, which resulted in electricity reserves hitting the 2,450MW level.
“Electricity usage was at its highest at 2.30pm yesterday, but the people sector cut their use of power, which led to a significant reduction of overall electricity consumption in the country. We are able to go through this energy crisis thanks to strong cooperation,” he said.
Pongsak added that the electricity consumption in Bangkok was normal yesterday, causing no drops in voltage.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday called on the public to help save energy and bring national electricity consumption down by 15 per cent.
“We have seen the 10-per-cent energy saving target in the government sector met, but I would like to see 15 per cent in total. This means more savings should come from the private section. That way, we’ll be able to save a lot of energy,” she said.
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) governor Sutas Patamasiriwat said power consumption was expected to peak at about 24,950MW each on Tuesday and Wednesday, though the agency will be able to maintain safe reserve levels at 1,400MW each day. However, he said, if everybody cooperated like they did yesterday, then the power reserves should rise by another 700MW, bringing the total reserve to 2,000MW, which would make the electricity situation stable and ready to cope with emergencies.
The disruption of natural-gas supply from Myanmar has affected six power plants, which are now relying on diesel and bunker oil to produce electricity.
PTT delivers 50 million litres of diesel to Egat along with 92 million litres of bunker oil per annum and will provide extra fuel should Egat run out. With current levels of fuel consumption, there should be no need for an increase in the fuel adjustment tariff (FT) rate.
“As a long-term solution, the Energy Minister has agreed to set up of coal-power plants and hydropower plants in neighbouring countries if we are unable to build them in Thailand. Egat is currently negotiating with Myanmar to build a coal-power plant in Dawei with a capacity of about 4,000 megawatts, to serve both the Dawei Industrial Estate and Thailand. The plant in Dawei should be able to produce 1,800MW in the first phase,” Sutas said.
