Some parts of the Prime Minister speech focus on Power Plant (on 22 August 2014)

On investment in energy infrastructure, the NCPO has approved investment projects of Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Provincial Electricity Authority and Metropolitan Electricity Authority to meet the needs of households and the industrial sector and to promote energy security in the future. A five-year plan will be drafted to specify the demand for electricity for industrial and household sectors. This will help us decide on where and how the electricity power plants should be built. A clear and comprehensive set of strategies consisting of short- and long-term measures must be developed. The NCPO has approved urgent projects to replace those that are about to expire, for example, the Mae Moh Power Plant Units 4-7 Replacement Project as the Units will expire in 2017. Others include the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand’s project to extend transmission lines Phase 12, transmission system development projects in the western and southern regions in order to enhance security of electricity supply and to prevent power failures and power shortages in the south. The NCPO also approved the Board of Investment of Thailand’s promotion of investment in waste-to-energy facilities and renewable energy power plants. Last week, 3-4 projects had been approved to encourage the use of waste-to-energy supply and other renewable energy. We have clearly announced our policy to prioritize the consideration for projects that does not have environmental impact and are environmental-friendly. Government promotion will particularly focus on such projects. 

In the past, we have never clearly specify the criteria on where, how and when the projects will be carried out which caused conflict problems. The power plant operations will be conducted in line with the third revision of Thailand’s Power Development Plan (2010-2030), which requires that Thailand generate electricity sufficiently enough to sustain the country’s economic growth in the future. We have to specify how much energy we will produced domestically, how much will be purchased from abroad, and how much alternative or renewable energy will be used. We will have to move forward according to this plan. A 1-year or 5-year plan will be drafted. Actually, all projects should have a long-term workplan to ensure unsustainability and unfair treatment which lead to corruption. The construction of power plant will be distributed in every region and will not be centralized within the industrialized zone or the central region. In the next 5 to 10 years, there must be sufficient power plants in every region which could solve the issue of power shortage. We have to be more self-reliant in terms of energy even at places where we buy energy from abroad.

Cr. Ministry of Foreign Affair of The Kingdom of Thailand