Year 2009

 August

Egat expects long wait over subsidy debt


By: YUTHANA PRAIWAN

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand expects the government to further delay repayment of 20 billion baht it owes for fuel subsidies.

Payment may be put back six months until mid-2010 because of rising oil prices, said Egat governor Sombat Sarntijaree.

The expected delay is the result of rising global oil prices which have increased the cost of power production.

Egat has subsidised gas prices by fixing fuel tariffs (Ft) on household electricity bills since the middle of last year. The accumulated subsidy totals 20 billion baht. Egat earlier expected all government debt to be repaid by the year-end.

"It is clear that the government will maintain the Ft at 0.925 baht per kilowatt/hour throughout the year calculated on oil prices of around $55 a barrel. Our debt will clearly be repaid around the middle of next year," he said.

Natural gas accounts for 70% of the fuel used for power in Thailand.

Egat expects its revenue to fall by 2.5% to 363 billion baht this year from 2008. Volume will drop to 145.2 billion units, down 3 billion from last year.

"Power-demand growth contracted every month until now, but we have not yet seen the worst part of the crisis," he said.

In a related development, Egat yesterday joined with the National Science and Technology Development Agency to strengthen local research and development in the energy sector to reduce dependence on overseas technology.

Egat and NSTDA will each provide 20 million baht toward the first year's budget, which will increase in the future, said Mr Sombat.

NSTDA president Sakarindr Bhumiratana said professional research teams will help develop various projects, such as increasing the efficiency of electricity generation, storage and transmission.

"There needs to be good research management to serve the country's demand while creating investment and knowledge," he said.

Many projects have started, such as those that promote sustainable or renewable energy sources like woodchips and wind turbines, he said.

One project plans to increase the efficiency of gas turbines and reduce the need for multi-million baht maintenance overhauls every two to three years.

"Moreover, all of the equipment has to be imported; therefore we would like to have the equipment locally made and extend the life of the equipment," said Dr Sakarindr.

A special committee will be set up to oversee the projects.

This article is written by Bangkok Post

7/08/2009

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