Year 2007

 April

IPPs to get 5,800 MW

YUTHANA PRAIWAN

The National Energy Policy Committee is expected to endorse a call for new independent power producer (IPP) bids next month to produce 5,800 megawatts of electricity between 2012 and 2014, the first portion of total capacity required by the new 15-year power development plan.

Bids are expected to be called at the end of this year, Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand said yesterday.

Of the total capacity, 2,800 MW of uncontested capacity will be awarded to Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), while the remaining 3,000 MW would go to private investors.

Out of Egat's total capacity, only 700 MW would be produced from coal. A fuel source has not been specified for the remaining capacity.

Private investors are not prohibited from proposing bids to build coal-fired power plants. Electricity Generating Plc and Ratchaburi Electricity Generating holding Plc, Egat's SET-listed subsidiaries, are also allowed to bid for the projects.

Dr Piyasvasti said that another 6,300 MW of electricity were slated for production from 2015-17.

Of that total, 4,200 megawatts would be awarded to private investors and the remaining 2,100 MW would go to Egat, which would be required to build only coal-fired power plants.

Bidding envelopes to build small power producer (SPP) plants with a total capacity of 1,000 MW will be sold to prospective bidders starting from next Monday.Each SPP plant is expected to have a capacity of between 10 and 100 MW.

About 500 MW of total capacity will be produced from co-generation plants and 530 MW will be generated from renewable energy sources including wind, solar and hydro power, and rubbish and agricultural wastes.

Dr Piyasvasti said the SPP bids would generate activity worth about one billion US dollars during the next two years.

This article is written by Bangkok Post

27/04/2007

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