Japan Seen As Good Role Model For Govt To Follow

[churchill]

The Energy Ministry is encouraging private companies to invest more in the renewable-energy sector to generate electricity in order to diversify from major energy resources like natural gas to others such as coal and nuclear power.

Thailand's energy supply would be more secure if it could diversify to other renewable-energy resources, said Samerjai Suksumek, director of the Power Policy Bureau of the Energy Policy and Planning Office.

Thailand is trying to shift to utilise other natural resources to generate electricity because the natural-gas supply in the Gulf of Thailand is limited. Once the gas runs out, Thailand will lack energy security, Samerjai said.

However, when people upcountry hear that there will be renewable-power plants to be located in their communities, they are mostly opposed to the operations, the official said.

Energy Minister Wannarat Charnnukul recently said Thailand needed to diversify to various natural resources, and this is a crucial strategy for boosting energy security.

The ministry has to study alternative-energy possibilities, Samerjai said.

Samerjai said Japan was a good role model for Thailand. About 96 per cent of energy used in Japan is imported from overseas.

So the country has to reduce its dependence on crude oil and natural gas.

According to Japan's electricity-generation figures in February this year, the country has an electricity capacity of 239,000 megawatts.

The capacity can be divided into that generated by liquefied natural gas (28.4 per cent), coal (25.2 per cent), nuclear power (25.5 per cent) and crude oil (7.6 per cent).

For Thailand, about 70 per cent of electricity generation comes from natural gas, 20 per cent from coal and the remainder from hydropower and others.

Samerjai said although Japan had been successful in diversifying to various energy resources, the country had also faced protests from Japanese people.

Nuclear power, coal and gas each account for one-quarter of the power generation in Japan. The rest comes from other sources like hydropower and oil.

Nobuy Onjo, head of wind-power engineering at J-Power, said although wind power was a clean energy, and had minimal impact on the atmosphere, it also created noise pollution.

One reason that Japanese people have protested against wind-power plants is that they do not generate tax revenue to the local communities, as nuclear power plants do. So, the communities do not receive funding from them to develop their society.

Besides, the operation of wind-power plants depends on the wind speed.

For example, if the wind speed of the Tokyo Bay Side Wind Power Plant is lower than 4 metres per second, the plant cannot operate, said Onjo.

The wind-power plants in Japan need huge investment budgets because of the high cost per unit.

Therefore, the Japanese government has a policy to subsidise one-third of the total investment budget per plant, he added.

Hideki Tsukuda, director of Isogo Coal-fired Thermal Power Plant under J-Power's umbrella, said the company had operated the coal-fired power plant since 1967 with production capacity of 530 megawatts.

J-Power has invested �250 billion (Bt92 billion) to improve electricity production technology so that it puts less dust and sulphur-dioxide emissions into the environment, Tsukuda said.

At present, the Isogo Coal-fired Thermal Power Plant has an electricity capacity of 1,200MW. The investment budget of �250 billion was 20 per cent higher than investing in general technology, but its efficiency in reducing emissions is better.

Samerjai said to diversify to renewable energy sources in other countries was also complicated. People in many countries are likely to protest over environmental concerns. So, the Thai government has to restructure electricity prices so that they reflect the real costs, so as to attract private firms to invest in the renewable energy sector, Samerjai said.

The EPPO recently adjusted the power demand forecast, adding fuel tariffs and temperature aside from past figures and economic growth figures.

The first forecast model, completed by the Energy for Environment Foundation, showed that in 2030 Thailand would consume 317,912 million units of power, compared to 114,000 million in 2010.

Based on the figures, Thailand's capacity must reach 52,468MW in the next 20 years, compared to 25,000MW now.

The forecast will be included in the Power Development Plan (2010)

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