BANGKOK, 11 December 2013 The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) is likely to increase the fuel tariff (FT) rate on electricity use early next year by more than 10 satang per unit following natural gas price rise.
Chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission Direk Lawansiri said the commission would meet mid-December on electricity production costs before calculating a new FT rate. He still could not say how much the rate would increase as there were many factors to consider apart from gas price and currency value.
Nonetheless, it is expected that the FT rate for January-April 2014 will adjust up 10 satang per unit due to the higher price of natural gas. The current price of liquefied natural gas is over 15 USD per cubic foot.
Natural gas is the main fuel for power generation in Thailand. Its recent price increase resulted from higher oil price in the global market. Another factor affecting EGAT’s rising costs is the weakening Thai baht from 31.24 baht to 32 baht against the U.S. dollar.
EGAT is trying to push for more use of coal for electricity production than liquefied natural gas in a bid to prevent the FT rate from rising too high.
