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Reconsider energy solutions
Opposition to the national energy policy will only grow if the state does not give more attention to alternative energy sources.
In the years to come, the Ministry of Energy and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) will certainly face a tough task if they plan on continuing to supply the nation's energy by constructing more and more mega projects.
This is because locals in many areas where the projects are planned are becoming increasingly aware of their rights under the Constitution, and have taken lessons from the numerous environmental repercussions of past projects.
For example, a group of locals living near the Mae Moh coal-fired power plants in Lampang province allege that the operation of the plants has had greatly adverse impacts on their health and their way of life.
The shadow of the Mae Moh controversy has fallen far and wide. Aware of the legacy of Mae Moh and other coal-fired plants, locals from Wiang Haeng in Chiang Mai province are opposing the plan to construct a coal-fired power plant in their area.
The new coal-fired power plant at Map Ta Phut which the BLCP company plans on operating in 2007 is also being questioned by the locals.
People are against not only coal-fired power plants, but the way the state imposes its new projects on them without their participation.
Faced with rising opposition from locals, Gulf Power Generation scrapped development of the controversial Bo Nok coal-fired power plant in Prachuap Khiri Khan and moved to Kaeng Khoi in Saraburi province.
Even though the developer changed the fuel type in the blueprints for the new project from coal to natural gas, locals in Kaeng Khoi are still determined to participate in the planning stages.
The people in Kaeng Khoi worry that the project will worsen pollution in their area and are particularly concerned about how it will affect the Pasak River, which is their lifeline.
"There are already too many factories and quarries in the area which use too much water as well as discharge wastewater into the river," said Somkid Duangkaew, a resident of Kaeng Khoi.
A group of orange growers in Wang Noi in Ayutthaya province last year brought charges against Egat, alleging that gas emissions form the Wang Noi power plant have caused acid rain which is destroying their plantations.
Environmental concerns know no national boundaries.
Many Thai citizens and international agencies are questioning the environmental, social and economic impacts of the Num Teun dam in Laos. There are also questions about whether the energy produced at Num Teun and other dams is really needed.
"It's time for Egat to reconsider its methodology in forecasting the need for electricity,"said economist Decharat Sukkamnoed of Kasetsat University.
"At present, Egat bases its predictions on an economic growth of 6.5 percent per year, but the GDP average of the last 15 years is only 5.6 percent a year," he added.
Inaccuracy in peak demand forecast in the past years must also be taken into account, he said. The peak demand in 2004 was only 19,326 MWs, lower than Egat's predication by 274 MWs (see graphic).
Records reveal that the real peak demand has been consistently lower than Egat's forecasts.
At present, Egat has a 26,387 MW installation capacity base. As last year's peak demand was 19, 326 MWS, Thailand has an electricity surplus of 7,061 MWs. Even when calculated only on the basis of the "dependable capacity", the reserve margin is more than 30 percent.
The country's fuel oil demand is forecast to rise more than 20 percent, due mainly to demand for use in electricity production, and is projected to nearly triple to 3.6 billion litres per year.
Not many consumers are aware they have to shoulder the Ft cost (the Automatic Adjustment Mechanism), which is added to the base tariffs to form the actual tariff fees charged to customers by Egat.
There are many components of the calculated Ft cost; one of them is a change of the rate of exchange when Thailand has to import fuel oil or other fossil fuels to generate electricity and for other operations.
The taxpayers now have to pay more than 68 billion baht of reserve funds to subsidise the oil price, which will affect the Thai economy in the long run if it continues to rise at this rate.
Placating an increasingly aware public will be a never-ending task if Egat does not begin aggressively pursuing alternative energy technologies.
Thai Net Metering Project is a project of Palang Thai. Please direct energy questions to info@netmeter.org, and website comments to webmaster@netmeter.org.
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