Extra Power To Prevent Blackouts During New Year Celebrations: Thailand

[webfact]

ELECTRICITY

Extra power to prevent blackouts

The Nation

Generators to ensure supply for New Year revellers in 10 locations

BANGKOK: -- Ten tourist destinations will be provided with power reserves to handle demand and prevent blackouts during New Year celebrations, Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) governor Namchai Lorwattanatrakul said yesterday.

The PEA has prepared the power reserves for Chiang Mai, Phuket, Hat Yai, Nakhon Ratchasima, Udon Thani, Khon Kaen, Ubon Ratchathani, Chon Buri, Koh Samui and Koh Pa-ngan to prevent the kind of blackouts that hit Samui for three days early this month, Namchai said.

Namchai said the PEA would be able to supply power reserves to cities on land without much difficulty by providing two additional generators at two locations in each city.

As for Samui, which has only one power cable under water, it has to provide a mobile electricity generator of up to 10 megawatts fuelled by diesel.

For Samui to achieve power stability in the next 10 years, the Cabinet has approved investment to install one more power cable under water that can generate more than 100MW. The long-term plan is to construct a power plant on the island to prevent blackouts that adversely affect the image of the island, which is a world-class seaside resort.

Foreign tourists cut short their trips, leaving Samui and Pa-ngan islands during the three-day blackout, which officials estimated caused more than Bt10 billion in damage to Samui's tourism.

Hotels and resort operators flocked to fuel stations to buy petrol or diesel for their generators, but the stations could not sell them fuel because they themselves were without power to run their pumps. The blackout was caused when a main underground power cable, the only power source of Samui, short-circuited.

The PEA is planning to spend 70 per cent of Bt120 billion from its investment plan for 2013-17 on promoting power-distribution stability to prevent blackouts and inadequate voltage in large cities, industrial zones and tourism-oriented communities, Namchai said.

The agency has an objective to reduce power failures at the current rate of one person experiencing blackout eight times per year, to not more than four times per year, which is the same standard as that of the Metropolitan Electricity Authority.

Former Samui mayor Ramnet Jaikwang earlier urged a government subsidy to tap the tourism potential of this world-famous destination that brings in Bt10 billion in revenue each year.

Although the Muang Samui municipality collects taxes from local businesses worth more than Bt500 million each year, it has only about Bt50 million left over - after deducting regular expenses - to spend on tourism-related projects such as road repairs, garbage collection, providing fresh water and flood prevention.

-- The Nation 2012-12-27

[nokbird]

PowerPlant on the island.....cute eh

[ChrisY1]

Tourists to be supplied with chinese "D" cell batteries!

[RichardtenBrinke]

Since they are thinking of putting a power plant on our island, let's think further.

If all the resorts / hotels would install solar energy collectors on the roofs of the villas, then the huge demand of electricity would be going down rapidly. my lights sometimes go brighter and lower sometimes just because of the high demand.

The knowledge and the money is there, but TIT, It takes 10 years to think over it. They are still to proud of the fact that they were

never colonised by other countries, and still they are blocking this kind of things what can bring the country forward. Same as 3G, it took 5 years before it was here, and now we have it for a year, in Europe they are having 4G already....

So stop bullshitting, and act. Land of smiles, many sunshine USE it.

[OzMick]

Transmission cables transmit, not generate electricity (unless they are placed in a moving magnetic field)

[OzMick]

Since they are thinking of putting a power plant on our island, let's think further.

If all the resorts / hotels would install solar energy collectors on the roofs of the villas, then the huge demand of electricity would be going down rapidly. my lights sometimes go brighter and lower sometimes just because of the high demand.

The knowledge and the money is there, but TIT, It takes 10 years to think over it. They are still to proud of the fact that they were

never colonised by other countries, and still they are blocking this kind of things what can bring the country forward. Same as 3G, it took 5 years before it was here, and now we have it for a year, in Europe they are having 4G already....

So stop bullshitting, and act. Land of smiles, many sunshine USE it.

You may notice that when your lights fluctuate due to voltage changes, the sun is not shining. Solar power is available on average 28% of the time (while the sun is high enough less cloud/rain periods). The fact that it is often highly government subsidised disguises its high cost per unit of power.

So while solar panels may be useful in reducing the power demand of air conditioning, it will not be much use at night unless you have some method of storing large amounts of energy. Currently, the only economically viable method is pumping water uphill, and I have severe doubts this would be viable on Samui.

[Gulfsailor]

Since they are thinking of putting a power plant on our island, let's think further.

If all the resorts / hotels would install solar energy collectors on the roofs of the villas, then the huge demand of electricity would be going down rapidly. my lights sometimes go brighter and lower sometimes just because of the high demand.

The knowledge and the money is there, but TIT, It takes 10 years to think over it. They are still to proud of the fact that they were

never colonised by other countries, and still they are blocking this kind of things what can bring the country forward. Same as 3G, it took 5 years before it was here, and now we have it for a year, in Europe they are having 4G already....

So stop bullshitting, and act. Land of smiles, many sunshine USE it.

You may notice that when your lights fluctuate due to voltage changes, the sun is not shining. Solar power is available on average 28% of the time (while the sun is high enough less cloud/rain periods). The fact that it is often highly government subsidised disguises its high cost per unit of power.

So while solar panels may be useful in reducing the power demand of air conditioning, it will not be much use at night unless you have some method of storing large amounts of energy. Currently, the only economically viable method is pumping water uphill, and I have severe doubts this would be viable on Samui.

You are correct. Pumping water uphill in Samui is not viable. Land is too expensive. So the only other option is battery packs. That doubles your solar investment, and more than doubles the price per unit electricity. Furthermore, because its very hot in Thailand, voltovotaic cells actually have around 30% less efficiency compared to use in a cool country. I applaud looking at alternative sources of energy, but solar panels is not it here. What could be done by yourself, is using the sun to heat the water you shower with, but that's just peanuts.

Or if you want to go large scale, a heliostat may be cost effective in Thailand. But again, you don't have the space to do it on Samui, so you still need the cable from the mainland.

[SamuiRes]

Foreign tourists cut short their trips, leaving Samui and Pa-ngan islands during the three-day blackout, which officials estimated caused more than Bt10 billion in damage to Samui's tourism.

Former Samui mayor Ramnet Jaikwang earlier urged a government subsidy to tap the tourism potential of this world-famous destination that brings in Bt10 billion in revenue each year.

So three days without electricity lost one years revenue. How does that work?

[spidermike007]

The damage to Samui from this blackout is unprecedented. I am here now, and I can say this is the quietest Christmas week I have seen in the past 10 years! All merchants are complaining. There is a very light peak season! The outage caused tens of thousands of cancellations worldwide, of people planning Samui trips. I think the consensus is if the govt. cannot, or will not do anything to prevent this, <deleted> them. Tourists are losing faith in this country. The way in which the govt. disregards their importance is unfathomable. Yingluck was not made to pay any price for her utter failure to either prevent this, or handle this once it happened. She should have been on the ground in Samui the entire time. Instead, nothing but utter and complete disregard. Perhaps the crows are coming home to roost?

[Thai at Heart]

Well, we have been off 8 times this morning up country, so looks like the PEA has its work cut out

[johan79]

Here on Koh Phangan the have 4 Huge Generator Trucks hooked up to our power Grid and when I was on Samui I saw 3 of these units near the town Nathon.

On Koh Phangan these truck have been here for more than 6 Months

Edited December 27, 2012 by johan79

[Soutpeel]

The solution to these problems is so simple.......there is enough hot air coming out of the average Thai politican that you could dispatch them immediately to these problem areas along with a turbine/generator and get them to talk to the turbine...50Mw at least...problem solved..

[Soutpeel]

So three days without electricity lost one years revenue. How does that work?

Said officals have been taking "creativity" lessons from Yingluck....

[Payboy]

I could use some extra power myself through this weekend.

[Tep]

The fact that it is often highly government subsidised disguises its high cost per unit of power.

In Thailand, the Adder for renewable energy is a cross subsidy and built into the tariff that power consumers pay. It is not paid for by the Government.

[vijer]

So all this extra electrical demand is going to be met with increased supply, the wires supplying the electricity will become overheated, as they are below any standards, and will cause numerous fires. The fires will provide plenty of light and the Thai staff will run around telling tourists to turn off the lights.

[Briandajew]

Why don't they just do the usual? Take two wires from a suitable length of cable, jam them into a socket with a couple of match sticks, at someones house near the Samui Ferry Terminal, then use the ferry to drag the cable across to Samui and rig up a few hundred extension sockets like the ones you can buy from Big C for 200 Baht, if they need to get them across roads or other obstacles, they can simply tape them to the ground with some brown parcel tape or prop them up with 5 metre lenghts of bamboo - Alternatively if it is crossing a road, they could provide drivers with a Thai to sit on the car roof with a stick to lift the cable up as they pass underneath! I love watching them perched precariously on top of vehicles as they hurtle along the road - it looks like a scene from Pirates of The Caribbean! Poke a few of their eyes out with a sharp stick, give them an eye patch, they already usually have the machete - Johnny Somchai Depp-A- Porn

Edited December 27, 2012 by Briandajew

[OzMick]

Why don't they just do the usual? Take two wires from a suitable length of cable, jam them into a socket with a couple of match sticks, at someones house near the Samui Ferry Terminal, then use the ferry to drag the cable across to Samui and rig up a few hundred extension sockets like the ones you can buy from Big C for 200 Baht, if they need to get them across roads or other obstacles, they can simply tape them to the ground with some brown parcel tape or prop them up with 5 metre lenghts of bamboo - Alternatively if it is crossing a road, they could provide drivers with a Thai to sit on the car roof with a stick to lift the cable up as they pass underneath! I love watching them perched precariously on top of vehicles as they hurtle along the road - it looks like a scene from Pirates of The Caribbean! Poke a few of their eyes out with a sharp stick, give them an eye patch, they already usually have the machete - Johnny Somchai Depp-A- Porn

Realising your post is light-hearted, can I point out that underwater power cable transmission is done as DC and requires rectifier/inverter units at either end. Not my end of the business, so I am not sure why, but guessing it will have something to do with the magnetic flux of AC.

[dickyknee]

Extra power (at about 1 minute)

[Mudcrab]

Why don't they just do the usual? Take two wires from a suitable length of cable, jam them into a socket with a couple of match sticks, at someones house near the Samui Ferry Terminal, then use the ferry to drag the cable across to Samui and rig up a few hundred extension sockets like the ones you can buy from Big C for 200 Baht, if they need to get them across roads or other obstacles, they can simply tape them to the ground with some brown parcel tape or prop them up with 5 metre lenghts of bamboo - Alternatively if it is crossing a road, they could provide drivers with a Thai to sit on the car roof with a stick to lift the cable up as they pass underneath! I love watching them perched precariously on top of vehicles as they hurtle along the road - it looks like a scene from Pirates of The Caribbean! Poke a few of their eyes out with a sharp stick, give them an eye patch, they already usually have the machete - Johnny Somchai Depp-A- Porn

Realising your post is light-hearted, can I point out that underwater power cable transmission is done as DC and requires rectifier/inverter units at either end. Not my end of the business, so I am not sure why, but guessing it will have something to do with the magnetic flux of AC.

You're right OzMick....AC transmission has much higher power losses than DC. The power transmission from the Oz mainland to Tasmania as well as the link between the North and South islands of New Zealand are both DC. Interesting to read that they mention a 10MW diesel powered generator will be supplied. This I would like to see as a 1MW genset is the size of a shipping container!

Edited December 27, 2012 by Mudcrab

[dickyknee]

Why don't they just do the usual? Take two wires from a suitable length of cable, jam them into a socket with a couple of match sticks, at someones house near the Samui Ferry Terminal, then use the ferry to drag the cable across to Samui and rig up a few hundred extension sockets like the ones you can buy from Big C for 200 Baht, if they need to get them across roads or other obstacles, they can simply tape them to the ground with some brown parcel tape or prop them up with 5 metre lenghts of bamboo - Alternatively if it is crossing a road, they could provide drivers with a Thai to sit on the car roof with a stick to lift the cable up as they pass underneath! I love watching them perched precariously on top of vehicles as they hurtle along the road - it looks like a scene from Pirates of The Caribbean! Poke a few of their eyes out with a sharp stick, give them an eye patch, they already usually have the machete - Johnny Somchai Depp-A- Porn

Realising your post is light-hearted, can I point out that underwater power cable transmission is done as DC and requires rectifier/inverter units at either end. Not my end of the business, so I am not sure why, but guessing it will have something to do with the magnetic flux of AC.

or capacitance of the cable.

[OzMick]

Why don't they just do the usual? Take two wires from a suitable length of cable, jam them into a socket with a couple of match sticks, at someones house near the Samui Ferry Terminal, then use the ferry to drag the cable across to Samui and rig up a few hundred extension sockets like the ones you can buy from Big C for 200 Baht, if they need to get them across roads or other obstacles, they can simply tape them to the ground with some brown parcel tape or prop them up with 5 metre lenghts of bamboo - Alternatively if it is crossing a road, they could provide drivers with a Thai to sit on the car roof with a stick to lift the cable up as they pass underneath! I love watching them perched precariously on top of vehicles as they hurtle along the road - it looks like a scene from Pirates of The Caribbean! Poke a few of their eyes out with a sharp stick, give them an eye patch, they already usually have the machete - Johnny Somchai Depp-A- Porn

Realising your post is light-hearted, can I point out that underwater power cable transmission is done as DC and requires rectifier/inverter units at either end. Not my end of the business, so I am not sure why, but guessing it will have something to do with the magnetic flux of AC.

or capacitance of the cable.

MVARs raise their ugly head once more!

[Mudcrab]

Why don't they just do the usual? Take two wires from a suitable length of cable, jam them into a socket with a couple of match sticks, at someones house near the Samui Ferry Terminal, then use the ferry to drag the cable across to Samui and rig up a few hundred extension sockets like the ones you can buy from Big C for 200 Baht, if they need to get them across roads or other obstacles, they can simply tape them to the ground with some brown parcel tape or prop them up with 5 metre lenghts of bamboo - Alternatively if it is crossing a road, they could provide drivers with a Thai to sit on the car roof with a stick to lift the cable up as they pass underneath! I love watching them perched precariously on top of vehicles as they hurtle along the road - it looks like a scene from Pirates of The Caribbean! Poke a few of their eyes out with a sharp stick, give them an eye patch, they already usually have the machete - Johnny Somchai Depp-A- Porn

Realising your post is light-hearted, can I point out that underwater power cable transmission is done as DC and requires rectifier/inverter units at either end. Not my end of the business, so I am not sure why, but guessing it will have something to do with the magnetic flux of AC.

or capacitance of the cable.

True the total AC reactance of the circuit...resistive plus capacitive plus inductive....much greater than DC where the only component is resisitve.

And being in water and not air adds to the losses with AC

Edited December 27, 2012 by Mudcrab

[kruangfaifar]

The damage to Samui from this blackout is unprecedented. I am here now, and I can say this is the quietest Christmas week I have seen in the past 10 years! All merchants are complaining. There is a very light peak season! The outage caused tens of thousands of cancellations worldwide, of people planning Samui trips. I think the consensus is if the govt. cannot, or will not do anything to prevent this, <deleted> them. Tourists are losing faith in this country. The way in which the govt. disregards their importance is unfathomable. Yingluck was not made to pay any price for her utter failure to either prevent this, or handle this once it happened. She should have been on the ground in Samui the entire time. Instead, nothing but utter and complete disregard. Perhaps the crows are coming home to roost?

I would suggest that the strong Baht has had far more effect on tourism than a 3 day power outage. Basically the power problem on Koh Samui will be solved when a second submarine cable has been run and a reasonably sized power plant has been built on the island to provide redundancy.The power plant will have to run on Diesel fuel and will require an EHIA to be approved so no doubt the whingers will be complaining about the destruction of their beach paradise and the EHIA will be blocked. Some time later the lights will go off again and so on. I think a couple of barge mounted GTs would be the best solution and flexible to operate without using land on the island. I think PEA should be commended for taking steps to have back up generators available to feed demand over the holiday period if required.

[spidermike007]

The damage to Samui from this blackout is unprecedented. I am here now, and I can say this is the quietest Christmas week I have seen in the past 10 years! All merchants are complaining. There is a very light peak season! The outage caused tens of thousands of cancellations worldwide, of people planning Samui trips. I think the consensus is if the govt. cannot, or will not do anything to prevent this, <deleted> them. Tourists are losing faith in this country. The way in which the govt. disregards their importance is unfathomable. Yingluck was not made to pay any price for her utter failure to either prevent this, or handle this once it happened. She should have been on the ground in Samui the entire time. Instead, nothing but utter and complete disregard. Perhaps the crows are coming home to roost?

I would suggest that the strong Baht has had far more effect on tourism than a 3 day power outage. Basically the power problem on Koh Samui will be solved when a second submarine cable has been run and a reasonably sized power plant has been built on the island to provide redundancy.The power plant will have to run on Diesel fuel and will require an EHIA to be approved so no doubt the whingers will be complaining about the destruction of their beach paradise and the EHIA will be blocked. Some time later the lights will go off again and so on. I think a couple of barge mounted GTs would be the best solution and flexible to operate without using land on the island. I think PEA should be commended for taking steps to have back up generators available to feed demand over the holiday period if required.

I have now spoken with several people who own businesses on Samui. The consensus is that this is the slowest last week of december, in the past 10 years! The blackout had tremendous impact. The word got around the world that the thai govt. was unprepared and unwilling to protect samui, and the tourists are dam_n pissed about it! A friend of mine who owns and runs an ISP here on the island says this week, for the past five years, he has 15 pages of logins to his system. This year it is 8 pages. A little over half the normal traffic. Restaurants are quiet, and the massage girls are starving. And this is peak week!

[Mosha]

I can't help thinking they will rob Peter to pay Paul in their quest to ensure the chosen places have power. Where I live in the sticks we get at least 3 cuts a week at the best of times. Some for several hours.