BANGKOK, May 27 – Measures to prevent power blackouts and compensation to southerners from last Tuesday’s outage in 14 provinces in Thailand’s South will be discussed by concerned agencies today.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will hold a meeting with three state electricity generating organisations to discuss prevention of power blackouts and brownouts.
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) yesterday led a press tour to Ban Tan sub-district, Ban Lad district of Petchaburi province, about 140 km southwest of Bangkok, to inspect the high-power transmission line which was struck by lightning on Tuesday evening, disrupting power supply to the southern region.
EGAT deputy governor Thana Putarungsi told reporters that the 230 kilovolt transmission line will be expanded to 500 kilovolts from Bang Sapan in Prachuab Khiri Kan to Hat Yai in Songkhla and from Khanom in Nakhon Si Thammarat to Phuket in parallel with development of power plants in the South.
Power consumption in Thailand’s South will possibly increase from the current 2,500 megawatts (MW) to 3,000 MWs in the next five years, compelling the EGAT to urgently expand its 800 MW Chana plant next year and its 900 MW Khanom plant in 2016.
The two other major power agencies are the Metropolitan Electricity of Thailand and Provincial Electricity of Thailand.
Kawin Thangsupanich, ERC secretary general, said the regulatory commission has set up an ad-hoc committee, headed by its board chairman Noppadol Mantachitr, to revise the line of command and decision-making to instantly cope with a blackout and prevent expanded damage.
The new guidelines should be finished in two weeks based on the existing measures already enforced in the three power generating organisations.
Another committee, headed by deputy permanent secretary for energy Kurujit Nakornthap, will meet separately today to assess damage from Tuesday’s power outage in the South.
