Year 2010

 July

Call for more efficiency in power consumption

By Achara Deboonme

Asean needed to become greener and more efficient in power consumption, Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul said last week.

The recent drop in demand would be only temporary and soon consumption would rise again along with economic expansion, he said in his keynote address to the 26th Meeting of Heads of Asean Power Utilities/Authorities (Hapua) Council.

But amid growing concern over global warming and environmental protection, the region needed to strike a balance among energy |security, economic and social | development and environmental protection in order to ensure both energy security and sustainable development, the minister told the power chiefs.

Achieving such a balance was |easier said than done, though.

Thailand's energy forecast shows that in 2025, power demand would reach 54.59 gigawatts, up from 22.89GW last year. Some of the new power will come from renewable energy. The Power Development Plan calls for 35 per cent of new power to come from hydro, solar, wind, biofuel, biomass and nuclear power by 2030.

However, among renewable energy sources, hydropower and nuclear power offer the cheapest cost. Yet, while resistance to nuclear power remains high in Thailand, most of the future hydropower will come from Laos.

There was no guarantee that the power supply from Laos would not be interrupted, though.

According to sources at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, an ominous sign emerged early this year when the natural gas supply from Burma and the South to power plants in Thailand was |disrupted.

"Then, coupled with a huge spurt in power demand amid high temperatures, reserves were falling fast from some 20 per cent. That's alarming," said an official who asked not to be named.

"If this coincidence happens again in the future, when new |supply is delayed, a power blackout is something that we should |anticipate." Then, the power agency had to release water in Kanchanaburi to generate power, which led to |flooding.

Another official said that all were in the war room for a long period to solve the crisis. The water was released even though that may |disturb some.

"We couldn't risk supply disruption," the official said.

Referring to a Chulalongkorn University study from years ago on outage costs - the economic |cost from a power cut - he said it would cost each of the country's 63 million-plus people about Bt60 in economic value.

Egat, as the sole power distributor, is committed to maintaining power reserves at a minimum of 15 per cent to ensure smooth supply.

However, risks are imminent given that three of four independent power producers (IPPs) are still facing project delays.

Siam Energy Power's two plants in Chachoengsao and National Power's plant in the same province have run into strong resistance from local villagers.

Only Gheco-One continues with construction work.

If the three power plants cannot feed into the grid by 2013 as expected, reserves could be cut.

New supply from 2010-15 will then mostly come from small and very small power plants and power projects in Laos.

The 982-megawatt power plant in Hongsa, Laos is expected to feed power in 2015. The future also looks murky because nuclear power plants may not be ready to take some of the demand load in 2020 as expected.

Sources in the energy industry admit that power from other renewable sources like solar and wind could not meet the sharp growth in demand.

A source said that from Egat's study, wind and solar power availability is only 15-20 per cent, given the limited sources of power. Storage is also costly, he noted.

On the sidelines of the Hapua Council Meeting, Che Khalib Bin Mohamad Noh, president and CEO of Tenaga Nasional - Malaysia's electricity agency - also said his country needs to explore all available options to ensure power security. This includes nuclear power but this should start with educating the public of the real needs.

In Malaysia, alternative energy including hydropower accounts for 8 per cent of power consumption. Without hydropower, the percentage is tiny, he said. It is costly to diversify into other renewable sources, he said.

"Still, it depends on the public's readiness to pay," he added.

By Nation Post

July 5, 2010

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