Egat’s hydropower plant at Pha Juk dam to go on stream by 2022-end as planned
The construction of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s (Egat) hydropower plant at Pha Juk dam in Uttaradit’s Muang district is progressing as planned and should meet its targeted commercial operation date of December 2022, Thidet Iam-sai, deputy director-general of engineering and power plant construction at Egat, said on Wednesday.
“The power plant will have two generators, each capable of producing 7 megawatts, hence the total capacity of the plant is 14 megawatts,” he said.
“It is expected to generate up to 90 million units of electricity for the power grid per year and reduce CO2 emissions of 45,833 tonnes annually.”
Thidet explained that the plant would use water released by the Pha Juk dam to generate electricity, which is an efficient use of water resources while not affecting the surrounding communities, which will still be able to use water from the dam for consumption and agriculture.
“Furthermore, hydropower is a clean, sustainable energy and is one of the cheapest of renewable energies,” he said.
On Wednesday, Egat opened a hydropower plant at Klong Tron dam in Uttaradit’s Nam Pad district for commercial use. The plant has a capacity of 2.5 megawatts and will produce 11.8 million units of electricity for the power grid.
So far Egat has built nine hydropower plants at dams nationwide – Chao Phraya, Mae Klong, Naresuan, Pasak Jolasid, Khun Dan Prakan Chon, Kwai Noi Bumrung Dan, Kiew Kho Ma, Chulabhorn and Klong Tron. They have a combined capacity of 87.95 megawatts.
Egat is also planning to build a floating solar power plant at selected dams, with a pilot project at Sirindhorn Dam in Ubon Ratchathani. It is expected to be completed by mid-2022 and will generate 45 megawatts of electricity.