EGCO Brings Forward Plans for Khanom Plant

Thailand’s largest private power producer, Electricity Generating Plc (EGCO), has accelerated its plan to build a new power plant in Khanom, Nakhon Si Thammarat, by two years to ease the supply shortage. The previous plan was to build the 7.5-billion-baht facility once the concession of its old power generator there expires in 2016, but the recent outage in southern provinces spurred the move, said president Sahust Pratuknukul.

The Khanom plant, Thailand’s first independent power project (IPP), has been operating for 17 years under a 20-year concession granted by the Energy Ministry. Once the new facility starts operation, the the old facility will be shut down permanently. Egco was awarded a renewal concession of 25 years last year.

The old power generators have a capacity of 824 megawatts, while the new one will have a capacity of 900 MW. Once the power purchasing contract by the Provincial Electricity Generating Authority is finished, construction can start immediately, so it will be ready by June 2016. Egco has another IPP in Map Ta Phut, Rayong, with a concession due to expire in 2015.

The company previously requested a concession renewal but the state opted to open the concession to competition because power capacity is not a concern there. Egco plans to bid for a new concession in the IPP third round. Mr. Sahust said the company’s Rayong project is on a shortlist of the Electricity Regulatory Commission (ERC) for IPPs, with the outcome due in June.

Egco designed a new power plant at the existing Rayong location with a capacity of 1,800 MW, higher than the old plant’s 1,232 MW. The ERC projects new power output from IPPs will total 5,400 MW.

Egco’s capacity is expected to rise by 41% to 6,120 MW in 2019 from 4,510 MW as of March this year. Additional capacity will come from the small power producer program, Xayaburi Hydro Electric in Laos and Quezon Power Plant in the Philippines. Shares of EGCO on the SET closed at 155.5 baht yesterday, down one baht, in trade worth 123 million.