Out with the old and in with the new for EGAT

EGAT are rapidly undertaking extensive environmental health and impact assessments for the installation of a new 600 MW coal fired power at the Mae Moh site in Thailand.

The behemoth Mae Moh facility has been a controversial, but critical contributor to Thailand’s power capacity over it’s 27 year reign. Units 4-7 are rapidly approaching the end of their tenure with decommissioning expected soon.

To adequately cope with the loss of power, EGAT will be adding the new unit with the most advanced high efficiency technology. The plant will consist of a Lignite-fired Supercritical Pressure Boiler, Steam Turbine Generator, Electrostatic Precipitator, Flue Gas Desulfurization and Selective Catalytic Reactor for De-NOx. EGAT are aiming for a commercial operation date in January 2018, and the lead contractor is expected to be announced in the following months.

Sutat Patmasiriwat, EGAT’s governor recently stated in an exclusive interview to Pi Magazine Asia that EGAT would be ‘putting much focus in maintaining the fuel diversification policy, and coal-fired power projects have to be developed for base load supply, to reduce the reliance on other finite fuel sources.’

EGAT are also reportedly in advanced stages for sourcing and investigating no less than four other locations where they will build coal-fired power plants with proposed combined production capacity of 3,200 megawatts, in Southern Thailand, where electricity demand is rising at an average of 6 per cent a year. Currently, electricity plants in the South have production capacity of only 2,100MW a year, versus annual demand of 2,500MW.

In an effort to implement its Power Development Plan (PDP) 2010 on time, EGAT intends to speed up the delivery of information to people living around proposed power plants that coal-fired electricity production is safe, and can be done in a clean manner with the newest technology.