TRAT, March 31 – An additional 300 megawatts of Thailand’s electricity usage is predicted for April 5, according to Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).
EGAT Governor Sutat Patmasiriwat said the country’s electricity use reached its highest level ever on March 28 at 26,430 megawatts, higher than expected, resulting in EGAT’s revision of the country’s forecast electricity use on April 5-14 during Myanmar’s Yadana gas field’s maintenance period.
On April 5, the use of additional 300 megawatts was expected, making Thailand’s electricity use to reach 26,600 megawatts, when the average temperature was forecasted to reach 40 degrees Celsius.
He said such hot weather resulted in the peak period of electricity usage, predicted earlier than the normal peak period at around the end of April/the beginning of May, while the highest use of power was forecast at 27,000 megawatts.
Mr Sutat said this higher load would not result in the lack of electrical power or power blackout, as Thailand’s manufacture sector agreed to generate around 200 megawatts more.
Meanwhile, the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI) will reduce electricity consumption by around 1,000 megawatts, while the public is also expected to reduce their electricity use, with reserved electricity for emergency use of at least 1,600 megawatts.
Mr Sutat added the government, led by Prime Minister Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, is having a campaign on April 4 on energy saving at Government House. The public will be encouraged to reduce energy use from 1-3 pm. The peak hour of power usage usually occurs at around 2pm, he said.
Big companies already agreeing to curb their electricity use include Toyota (300 megawatts), SCG (100 megawatts), and IRCP (40 megawatts).
