Ratchaburi Power Plant Shut By Fire

[george]

Ratchaburi power plant shut by fire

After hour-long battle, firemen regain control

RATCHABURI: -- A major fire broke out at one of the two electricity generating units of the 3,200-megawatt Ratchaburi power plant last night, leading to its shutdown. Around 50 fire engines were sent from Ratchaburi provincial town and nearby provinces to help battle the blaze which started at around 8.40pm at the plant's power generation unit 1.

At press time last night, firemen said they had been able to keep the fire under control but power plant officials said it was too early to tell how much damage the fire had caused to the facility.

They said they have not yet investigated whether there were any casualties because of thick smoke from the blaze.

Energy Minister Viset Choopiban and a top power executive were quick to reassure after reports of the fire that the abrupt closure of the power plant would not affect national power supplies.

Power reserves in the country are maintained at 20% of total production capacity.

The shortfall caused by the shutdown of the Ratchaburi power plant will be compensated by supply from other power generation plants on the national power grid, said Kraisi Kanasuta, chief executive of Egat Plc, the major shareholder of Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Co, and which owns 45% of the plant.

Mr Viset said the Ratchaburi power plant's power generation unit 1 had been closed for regular maintenance when the fire started.

The blaze was believed to have been caused by welding sparks at the unit's gas desulphurisation equipment.

The sparks caused an explosion and it took firemen more than an hour to fight the ensuing blaze before bringing it under control.

The Ratchaburi power plant is Egat's largest single investment. It consists of two separate power generation units.

One of the two has three power generators, each with production capacity of 600MW while the second unit has two power generators, each with 700MW of production capacity.

The plant is located on a 2,000-rai land plot and uses natural gas and bunker oil as fuel. The dual fuel option was chosen to avoid dependence solely on gas imported from Burma.

Mr Kraisi said he suspected the gas supply to unit 1 had leaked and caught fire due to sparks from the welding work.

``We ordered the shutdown of the second unit immediately after the fire for safety reasons,'' he said.

Local people said yesterday they were concerned for their safety because an oil depot storing diesel and bunker oil as well as natural gas from Burma is located only about 300-400 metres away.

--Bangkok Post 2005-10-14

[george]

Public not affected by fire at Ratchaburi power plant, says Energy Minister

BANGKOK: -- Supply of power to the general public in Thailand's central Ratchaburi Province and adjacent areas has remained normal and has not been disrupted by a fire at a power plant Thursday night, Energy Minister Viset Choopiban confirmed here Friday morning.

Mr. Viset told journalists that the fire caused only a limited damage to part of one of five power plants of Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Company Limited (RATCH) in Ratchaburi.

"The power plant has been closed for a 36-day maintenance, and the fire only caused a limited damage to a sulfur dioxide detecting machine of the plant, which is scheduled to re-open on November 20," he said.

"The adjacent second power plant which was temporarily closed to prevent a feared spread of the fire has reopened since early Friday. So, households and firms in Ratchaburi and nearby areas will not be affected by the fire, which was under well control and put out Thursday night",

he affirmed.

"The fire will also not affect the company's revenues," he added.

Power normally generated by the company's four power plants now reaches 2,900 megawatts a day and will increase to around 3,600 megawatts when the first power plant re-opens on November 20, according to EGAT Public Company Limited (EGAT), the parent firm of RATCH.

"The fire will not affect RATCH's supply of power to areas in its jurisdiction, nor will it affect the company's revenues," confirmed EGAT President Kraisi Karnasuta.

He conceded that safety measures of the five power plants would be thoroughly reviewed to prevent a repetition of any similar incidents in the future.

RATCH officials could not reportedly access to the fire-stricken area to inspect the damage Friday morning.

An official investigation on the cause of the fire is to be conducted, according to the EGAT president.

Found in March 2000, RATCH is a leading Thai investment firm in power generation industry. The company has interest in two subsidiaries, including Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Co., Ltd., which operates the five Ratchaburi power plants, and Ratchaburi Energy Co., Ltd., which is an investment arm in small power plant projects and power related projects.

--TNA 2005-10-14

[Jai Dee]

MAJOR FIRE BROKE OUT AT RATCHCHABURI POWER PLANT

A huge fire broke out inside 3,200 megawatt Ratchchaburi's Electricity Generating unit last night, causing it to shut down.

The fire occured at 9 pm last night. Around 50 fire engines were sent from Ratchaburi provincial town and nearby provinces to help fight the blaze. About 50 fire engines under supervision of the Ratchaburi Provincial Governor and the Ratchaburi Provincial Police Commander, were deployed to keep the fire under control.

Police said the blaze last night may have been caused welding sparks at the unit's gas desulphurisation equipment. The sparks caused an explosion and it took firemen more than an hour to fight the ensuing blaze before bringing it under control.

The fire had caused the power plant to suspend the section, resulting in a loss of 700 megawatts of its total generating capacity of 3,500 megawatts. However, Mr. Kraisee Kannasoot (ไกรสีห์ กรรณสูต), the Managing Director of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, said this would not affect power distribution for the central region and Ratchaburi Province, as spare electricity is being fed into the system. Mr. Kraisee believed the cause of the fire was from gas leakage in the plant.

A firefighter received injury at the nose, and was sent to hospital. No further injury was reported.

Source: thaisnews.com ประจำวันศุกร์ที่ 14 ตุลาคม 2548

[Jai Dee]

RATCHABURI GOVERNOR WONGSAK INSISTS THE FIRE ON POWER PLANT CONSIDERING AN ACCIDENT

RATCHABURI (ราชบุรี) Governor WONGSAK SAWASPANICH (วงศ์ศักดิ์ สวัสดิ์พาณิชย์) has insisted that the fire incident at the RATCHABURI power plant was only an accident, not arson-related.

Mr. WONGSAK revealed that the fire yesterday was caused by the sulfur dioxide detecting machine of the plant, which was closed for maintenance. Meanwhile, the root cause of the explosion is still under investigation.

Preliminary report confirmed that there are no injuries regarding the accident yesterday. The fire had no impact on the overall environment and the capacity system of the power plant.

Source: thaisnews.com ประจำวันศุกร์ที่ 14 ตุลาคม 2548