Looming Gas-Supply Shutdown In Thailand: Egat, I E A T Working On Damage Controls

[webfact]

LOOMING GAS-SUPPLY SHUTDOWN
Egat, IEAT working on damage controls
Tinnakorn Chaowachuen,
Watcharapong Thongrung
The Nation

Plan being drawn up; estates to be notified two weeks in advance

BANGKOK: -- The Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand is working with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to draw up a plan to minimise disruption to industrial estates in Ayutthaya, Chon Buri and Chachoengsao from the temporary cut-off of gas supplies from Myanmar in April.

"We should inform them in two weeks to give them time for adjustment," IEAT governor Verapong Chaiperm said yesterday.

Deputy governor Jakkarat Lertopas said Ayutthaya and Pathum Thani were supplied by the Wang Noi Power Plant, which depends on natural gas from Myanmar.

The Eastern region could also feel the effect, especially Chachoengsao and Chon Buri, but the Map Ta Phut complex will likely not suffer any shortages as many companies have their own power plants.

Once the state agency gets the information from Egat, it will alert the businesses in these industrial zones so that they can make preparations.

Woravuth Anurakwongsri, general manager of Bang Pa-in Land Development, the operator of Bang Pa-in Industrial Estate, said both Egat and the IEAT had yet to tell the company whether there would be a power problem in Ayutthaya.

If there will be a problem, the manufacturers will have to change their work hours.

If there will be insufficient power, factories will have to stop operating, as a brownout could damage machines, especially sophisticated equipment like the ones producing electronic components. The state agencies should advise businesses on what to do by mid-March so they have time to prepare for the situation and build up their inventories, Woravuth said.

Recently the government reassured the public that it had measures to tackle the expected power crunch in April, when gas deliveries from Myanmar will be interrupted because of maintenance of the Yadana gas field pipeline from April 5-14.

However, Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal has warned people not to panic and hoard liquefied petroleum gas, saying the country had adequate reserves of that fuel. Thailand would definitely not experience any LPG shortfall, as gas-separation plants could continue to run as usual.

The Energy Business Department will keep monitoring gas-tank filling plants, retailers and LPG stations to prevent any hoarding. Thailand also has plenty of natural gas for vehicles and the shutdown of Yadana will only affect the electricity system, he said.

The situation is being mitigated thanks to cooperation from industrial companies to revise their production processes to save energy.

In the long run the ministry will try to diversify energy sources to reduce the country's heavy reliance on natural gas, which fuels 70 per cent of electricity generation, Pongsak said. The ministry will focus on promoting biogas, coal and hydropower. This plan will need five years for fruition, he said.


-- The Nation 2013-02-27

[Locationthailand]

What a cluster <deleted> this all is - whole industries being threatened over lack of planning and contingency support. Would make anyone proud to have invested in Thailand in Purple Zones. No wonder they offer up to 8 years tax exemption as a cost incentive - install your own generators as they do in the West. Or perhaps this is another deliberate misinformation media based scam to sell generators. I would not be at all surprised.

[QED]

This maintenance shutdown has been scheduled for over 12 months, why the sudden panic now? I know as we will be over there doing some work in April

[OzMick]

After having 12 months notice themselves, they will give their customers 2 weeks. John 11:35.

[Chrisswe]

This is a question of PLANNING and Effective Thai Management !!!

[slapout]

We are seeing the finger pointing prior to the criminal act this time. There must be tons of paper work and associated copies, (cover your arse) being flipped from one group to the other. Its just an attempt to do damage control on the negitive preception of the government by the Thai people. In the same survey the PM scored somewhat better, thus she continues to do what has become her normal course of inaction,. Get the hell out of Dodge. while giving lip service to a plan of defense.

[h90]

This is a question of PLANNING and Effective Thai Management !!!

no this crises is made by purpose...even I don't know yet what the purpose is, but surely someone will make a lot money..

[coma]

An artical in a Thai newpaper yesterday announce that the government has banned all new vehicles from using LPG because of this 'crisis'. All existing vehicles already configured to run on the gas will be able to continue to do so.

[Ricardo]

Weren't the government, and fragrant PM-Yingluck, recently assuring foreign-investors that they could rebuild flooded-factories or make new inward-investments, without fear of anything nasty happening ?

Or perhaps they mean only floods, not water-shortages or power brown-outs or gas-shortages or toxic polluted ground-waters, maybe they ought to have studied the fine-print in the promises more-carefully ?

[h90]

I think if there isn't enough electric, PTP will shut off the poor people in Isaan and the outer areas in Bangkok, to keep the industry running and you can't really shut off downtown Bangkok as too many important people live there.

Tourist areas will be also protected.

And my guess is, they will prefer to shut off some areas for 1 week, than restrict everyone for 1 hour per day.....

[Pimay1]

I think if there isn't enough electric, PTP will shut off the poor people in Isaan and the outer areas in Bangkok, to keep the industry running and you can't really shut off downtown Bangkok as too many important people live there.

Tourist areas will be also protected.

And my guess is, they will prefer to shut off some areas for 1 week, than restrict everyone for 1 hour per day.....

I live in a village 2 miles outside Udon. This morning the power went off at 6:40am. Came back at 8:15. The old gf said she heard on the village loud speaker this would be a daily thing to save electricity.

Edited February 27, 2013 by Pimay1

[h90]

I think if there isn't enough electric, PTP will shut off the poor people in Isaan and the outer areas in Bangkok, to keep the industry running and you can't really shut off downtown Bangkok as too many important people live there.

Tourist areas will be also protected.

And my guess is, they will prefer to shut off some areas for 1 week, than restrict everyone for 1 hour per day.....

I live in a village 2 miles outside Udon. This morning the power went off at 6:40am. Came back at 8:15. The old gf said she heard on the village loud speaker this would be a daily thing to save electricity.

It is not even March.....The shortage should be in April..... and 6.40-8.15 what a strange time.

Very strange

[Pimay1]

I think if there isn't enough electric, PTP will shut off the poor people in Isaan and the outer areas in Bangkok, to keep the industry running and you can't really shut off downtown Bangkok as too many important people live there.

Tourist areas will be also protected.

And my guess is, they will prefer to shut off some areas for 1 week, than restrict everyone for 1 hour per day.....

I live in a village 2 miles outside Udon. This morning the power went off at 6:40am. Came back at 8:15. The old gf said she heard on the village loud speaker this would be a daily thing to save electricity.

It is not even March.....The shortage should be in April..... and 6.40-8.15 what a strange time.

Very strange

I thought the same thing. The worse part is I has two eggs about half done in the microwave when the power went off. Had to fire up my generator to finish breakfast.

[rubl]

From another page on the EGAT site:

"Vision
To be the ASEAN Power Grid center and the region's leading company in energy and related businesses."
http://www.egat.co.th/en/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=46:welcome-to-electricity-generating-authority-of-thailand

[Locationthailand]

An artical in a Thai newpaper yesterday announce that the government has banned all new vehicles from using LPG because of this 'crisis'. All existing vehicles already configured to run on the gas will be able to continue to do so.

- absolutely priceless. So by the time they fit LPG conversion to new vehicles, deliver to dealerships and sell the crisis will be well and truly over and Myanmar back producing. And the cars now at the dealerships with conversions have to become reconverted to normal fuel? What a pathetic knee jerk reaction. I wonder which part of the intelligent PTP Ministries thought this one up. Even the Dubai Puppet Master could not have thought this one up...

[canman]

This maintenance shutdown has been scheduled for over 12 months, why the sudden panic now? I know as we will be over there doing some work in April

This could be a much bigger problem then is being reported. Several of the gas platforms off Burma are sinking and the problem is becoming critical. The fix will involve a shut down of much longer then a couple weeks.

[jamhar]

Its like watching a keystone cops movie.

Everyone is running around but nothing is getting done.

So much energy (pun intended) is spent on reacting to easily PREVENTABLE crisis,

that no energy is left to deal with issues that urgently needs addressing.

Edited February 28, 2013 by jamhar