Thai Energy Minister Pongsak: Blackout Was 'unavoidable'

[webfact]

DARK DAY
Blackout was 'Unavoidable'
The Nation

Minister blames lightning strike on transmission line.

BANGKOK: -- Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal yesterday described Tuesday evening's blackout in all 14 southern provinces as "unavoidable" but did not come up with long-term measures to prevent a repeat in the region.

The plan to build more power plants, including coal-fuelled plants, in the region is still on track, he said.

"I insist that the [blackout] problem has nothing to do with the policy of building a coal-fired power plant," he said.

The plan has faced opposition from local residents and environmental activists.

Some academics and activists suspect that the blackout was a conspiracy aimed at stressing the need to construct more power plants in the South.

Assistant Professor Prasart Meetam of Prince of

Songkla University's Faculty of Sciences, warned the government against trying to use the blackout as an excuse to push ahead with the construction of more power plants.

"Various agencies have now given conflicting information, especially on power demand in the South," he said.

Wichai Nakjon, an environmental activist from Krabi, said he suspected the power outage was a conspiracy aimed at pointing to the need for more power plants, particularly coal-fired ones.

In April, the energy minister had warned that there would be a widespread blackout because a natural gas facility in Myanmar that supplies Thailand's power plants was under maintenance.

Pongsak blamed lightning striking a high-voltage transmission line that supplies power from the Central region to the South. There are two such lines but the other one was under maintenance.

In the short term, another line would be added linking the Ratchaburi power plant in the Central region to the South to prevent such a problem. He has ordered a study to expand the power distribution system in the South that was estimated to cost more than Bt10 billion.

"A cause of the problem is that power produced in the South does not meet local demand. And more electricity must be sent from the Central region," he said.

A fact-finding panel would be formed to investigate the accident.

"This power outage was widespread. This incident will be reviewed and the lessons learned will be used to prevent the problem from happening again, in the short and long terms," he said.

The blackout began shortly before 7pm on Tuesday and lasted for about four hours in most areas of the South although electricity was resumed in many areas of the region.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said the government did not want to see such a widespread power outage in the South again.

"I was shocked to learn about [the blackout]. This never happened before. We do not want to see such an outage in the entire southern region again because there are adverse impacts on tourism and the local residents," she said before leaving for Japan.

Authorities had to find out what went wrong so that a sustainable solution could be found.

"In the long term, there must be supporting plans in case there is power outage again," she said, citing the wide gap in demand and supply.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand apologised for the blackout.

Egat governor Sutat Patmasiriwat said in a statement that he has ordered a thorough examination of the power lines in the South so that such an event would not arise again.

Sutat said more power plants are needed in the South to prevent blackouts like the one that hit the region on Tuesday night, as demand for electricity in the region, particularly in the Andaman Coast provinces, is rising 6 per cent a year.

The three main plants in the South were only capable of delivering 1.6 gigawatts per day, while the region consumes about 2.5GW, so Egat had no choice but to go ahead with the coal-fired plant in Krabi and plan for more, he said.

The private sector called on the government to ensure such a widespread blackout would not occur again.

Pornsilp Patcharintanakul, vice chairman of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, said the government should quickly provide a clear explanation to the public because the blackout in the South was a sensitive issue.

Thanit Sorat, secretary-general of the Federation of Thailand Industries, said the government should ensure that a similar event would not recur and it should find out which party would be held responsible for this instance.


-- The Nation 2013-05-23

[rkidlad]

"Energy Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal yesterday described Tuesday evening's blackout in all 14 southern provinces as "unavoidable" but did not come up with long-term measures to prevent a repeat in the region"

Ah, Thai politicians at their best.

[MaxLee]

While the energy in Thailand is running out that simply means, to supply Bangkok ONLY BANGKOK, and screw the rest of Thailand, that's an order from the leading elite ruling Thailand...

... in simple terms meaning:

1. Do nothing about the problem

2. Make some headlines for the public as if they are aware of the problem and seemingly "give suggestions"

3. Scrub and collect the money under the table from private biddings of corruption

4. Let the rest of Thailand suffer in the future

5. When the crisis happening, look for a scapegoat, and also blame the public

And coal energy is such an environmental unfriendly and even more wasteful and health risky energy source that can kill the lunges, but Pongsack would go over dead bodies to maintain a savvy face for his commanders in Pheu Thai...

I wanna punch that retard's face because he looks like he can backstab you while he's smiling and looking down on you, oh pretty please let me anxiously inch that moon-face of him!!!!!! I'm so anxious come on!!!!!

[webfact]

Energy Minister: South’s power blackout a genuine force majeure
By Digital Media



BANGKOK, May 23 – Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal yesterday flatly ruled out any relationship between last night’s electricity blackout in 14 southern provinces and the government’s plan to build a strongly-opposed coal-fired electricity generation plant.

He admitted that part of the problem was insufficient power supply from electricity generating plants in the South which compels the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) to distribute additional power from the Central region.

He said the 500KV transmission line in Prachuap Khiri Khan was struck by lightning cutting off the power supply from the Ratchaburi electricity plant to the South.

Mr Pongsak said high-powered transmission lines, not only in the South but also in Bangkok and the Northeast, will be improved to prevent a similar incident.

An ad hoc committee was set up to find out details of the power outage, he said, adding that the command system at the power generating centre will be reviewed for a clear-cut procedure on
decision-making.

To solve the immediate problem last night, the government bought 200 megawatts of power from Malaysia, at an expense of Bt12 million, to supply to some southern provinces, he said.

Vitoon Simachokdee, permanent secretary for industry, said the power outage severely affected five of 14 southern provinces, at a cost of Bt400 million in losses.

Direct damage was estimated at Bt100 million, broken down to Bt60 million in Surat Thani, Bt20 million in Chumphon, Bt10 million in Krabi and Bt3 million in Trang, while the indirect damage was estimated at around Bt300 million, he said.

Small- and medium-sized factories without back-up power generators were mainly affected, he said. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-05-23

[JetsetBkk]

"unavoidable" but did not come up with long-term measures to prevent a repeat in the region.

lightning striking a high-voltage transmission line... There are two such lines but the other one was under maintenance.

So there are two lines, but one was down for maintenance.

Well, instead of just two lines, how about a grid. A National grid. Where have I heard of that before?

[clockman]

All politicians are liars!

[OzMick]

So it was an "act of god" and certainly nobody's fault. After I refute the intervention of a mythical figure, I arrive at Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

The people of the south (including me) want electricity, preferably reliably, but some are against a dirty coal-fired power station in their backyard. As there doesn't seem to be much of an alternative, they opt for a dirty coal-fired power station is somebody-else's backyard. Perhaps the options of a nuclear-powered station or a huge hydro scheme could be suggested to give them something else to whine about.

[slapout]

Before any government figure holding a position of power utters a word, his/her resume, experience in field, etc should be made avaliable to the public sector via every public media avaliable. Any photo session should include a video of their capability of chewing gum, crossing the street and talking on their mobil phone at the same time.

[ResX]

Two things that Thailand can appreciate about this incident. 1. Restoration time of 4 hour is probably one of the fastest in the world for the sub grid of that size. 2. Fundamental grid protection that is called major area saparation works well. Otherwise entire Thailand is would have been in the dark during that day. Do appreaciate this. Don't take thing for granted.

On the negative site.... No it is not true such incident was unavaoidable. You need at least two major mistakes before the sub grid can go down. One single major mistake won't do that job.

So let we see what could go wrong.

As it was mentioned the 230-kV line was failed due to lighting strike. Why don't you put eveidence to support this hypothesis? You can do it since any major lighting strike on any HV lines will always trigger surge diverter protection to operate. The function of surge diverter is to ground fault current that is triggered by excessive voltage uild up. Lighting strike on on a transmission line ultimately will increase the line voltage above the maximum allowable limit. When this limit is violated a surge diverter makes a complete electrical circuit from the HV line to ground. Thus it prevents further increase in line voltage, before high voltage protection operates to isolate the line. There are dozens of such protection in the Sourth. At least one protection for each generating unit. Let you find out any of them operated. Your operators would not fail to see once the surge diverter operate. They should have heard the noisy "booommmm" sound followed by ground shaking. It migh take not more than 0.5 seconds.

Or...just read the surge diverter counters. The counter will increase by 1 for each time after the protection operates.

The total peak demand capacity in the South is 2500MW. The area can only supply up to 1600MW. So the South is net importer of power from its neighbours by 900MW. I came to know that the South imports 0-150MW, via a double circuit HVDC, from Malaysia grid. That is fine as long as it never allows any single line to carry greater than about 5% of its maximum real time generating capacity. In this case 5% of 2500MW, i.e. 125MW per line. This requirement applies to all transmission lines that feed power to the South.

Here is my suggestion. The South requires additional generating capacity at least 900MW. It still can import from Malaysia grid by at most 150MW double circuited (or 75MW/line) . So it can import the remaining 750MW via the at least 6 independent lines, excluding HVDC tie line with Malaysia grid. Has it been done? I don't know. As far as I can see only 4 lines availabe namely a 230-kV double circuited line, and a 500kV double circuited line from the central. So there is a shortage of two more lines as far as I can see. I can be wrong anyway. But if I'm right about my assumption that only 4 lines are avilable to feed power to the South, excluding 2 lines from Malaysia grid, then the South has already breached its maximum generating capacity to meet its new peak demand. Based on my estimate, the total demand that South grid could provide is 2300MW at most. So under the current scenario the South has been overloaded by 200MW. "Coincidently" the recent blackout has something to do with line overloaded.

What can be done? 1. Build new power plants least by 500MW in the South over the next 5 years. and 2. If possible buy more electricity from Malaysia, at most 50MW more. 3. Limit peak demand up to 2250MW, assuming Malaysia is willing to provide additional 50MW (I doubt about it at least for now) via load curtailment exercise. 4. Promote power saving at least during peak hours of the day.

Even if I'm wrong with active power flow balance triggered failure, there is another potential failure mechanism that needs to be reckon, that is called the voltage sag induced failure. The South grid is very exposed to it too at the moment. That tells how important to have at least one power plant to be constructed in the South.

[manfrommanteo]

Truth is, they have power plants all around the south, and there is not "one" cable or whatever that would knock out the power to the whole south. This was a planned event, as the powers that be hate the south, because it's a stronghold of their opposition. This gov't is asking for a fight, and they won't win.

[AsterixThai]

Truth is, they have power plants all around the south, and there is not "one" cable or whatever that would knock out the power to the whole south. This was a planned event, as the powers that be hate the south, because it's a stronghold of their opposition. This gov't is asking for a fight, and they won't win.

+1

[thhMan]

Nothing is ever straight in Thailand...

If you cant blame an individual, blame nature...

Edited May 23, 2013 by thhMan

[Bagwan]

The only hings in life that are unavoidable are death and taxes - and the hi-so element may well not go along with the second item.

Quite a few years ago i stopped my stroll along Pattaya Klang to watch workmen relaying even more wires to the knitting overhead. I chatted to the foreman and said <deleted> don't you put the bloody wires underground? If they are not power lines why not use fibre optic? He shrugged his shoulders and uttered one word. Predictably it was 'THAILAND"

[EyesWideOpen]

Not really sure I understand the problem as explained by the government.

Choice A: Lightning strike. Hard to buy, as there are high voltage transmission lines all over the place, and endless lightning storms. A strike to a transmission line would seem to me to be a regular occurrance.

Choice B: Some kind of terrorist attack. The government definitely does not want to go down that path.....

Choice C: Having to explain that there actually is insufficient power available for the south. A great strategy if you want to push a new power plant down there, but would reek short term havoc upon any company deciding if they want to locate their business in the south.

Ahh decisions decisions....

Edited May 23, 2013 by EyesWideOpen

[drdoom6996]

So it was an "act of god" and certainly nobody's fault. After I refute the intervention of a mythical figure, I arrive at Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

The people of the south (including me) want electricity, preferably reliably, but some are against a dirty coal-fired power station in their backyard. As there doesn't seem to be much of an alternative, they opt for a dirty coal-fired power station is somebody-else's backyard. Perhaps the options of a nuclear-powered station or a huge hydro scheme could be suggested to give them something else to whine about.

Thai people do not know about, or what is "Preventative Maintenance". They believe that if it works, don't touch it until it breaks. And then the blame game with a fix that is minimal. Until the next problem. Remember, first Samui and then most of Southern Thailand. Anybody want to guess what may be next?

[monkeycountry]

I think this whole episode brought some very good "news" with it. Apparently the whole of the south, incl. Samui, Phuket, Hatyai etc. consume only 2.5 GW. That is a very small amount of power considering the amount of people living there, which means it will cost relatively little to build and operate a plant or 2 that can cover both current and future demand.

[Gerald14]

How can it be "UNAVOIDABLE" ??? A little planning ahead would go a long way... As we know a stitch in time....

[impulse]

Minister's kid forgot to do his homework. Didn't have a dog to blame. Grandma already died 3 times- couldn't use that one again. Couldn't claim to leave it on the bus since he gets chauffeured to school.

Needed schools to close.

Similar to praying for snow like when I was a kid, but with "Thai Hi-So Characteristics".

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

lightning striking a high-voltage transmission line... There are two such lines but the other one was under maintenance.

All the original news reports said there was just a single line connecting the Central and Southern regions...

Now suddenly, the news reports say there are two... but the other one was out of service...

Can't tell who's doing a crappier job... the journalists...or the government.

And it takes them a full day-plus to come up with the lightning explanation???

[Ianatlarge]

To add a different perspective on this debate, I read an article a few days ago about power generation in Germany. Nuclear and fossil fuels are slowly be phased out and being replaced by solar power and other eco-friendly alternatives. Apparently Germany, not as close to the equator as Thailand, is a world leader in the use of solar power. Rather than build a coal fired power station, look at installing solar panels on buildings, certainly new buildings, and do some work on the power distribution grid to eliminate waste.

[stevehaigh]

if they built a coal fired power plant in Krabi, where would the coal come from? i assume from somewhere by sea right as there is no rail to krabi.

[monkeycountry]

To add a different perspective on this debate, I read an article a few days ago about power generation in Germany. Nuclear and fossil fuels are slowly be phased out and being replaced by solar power and other eco-friendly alternatives. Apparently Germany, not as close to the equator as Thailand, is a world leader in the use of solar power. Rather than build a coal fired power station, look at installing solar panels on buildings, certainly new buildings, and do some work on the power distribution grid to eliminate waste.

I agree, but the cost of energy in Germany is quite a bit more expensive than Thailand, which makes solar power viable. Thailand should implement solar power or similar, but should also be prepared for the increase in price per kWh.

Secondly, while Thailand definately has more sun than Germany, I believe the moisture and heat makes the panels less effective. I suppose someone with more knowledge than me could give us the numbers, so we can see if the extra sun in Thailand outweighs the lower panel efficiency due to heat/moisture?

Last but not least, the government should upgrade electric meters to run both ways, so everyone can setup their own solar panels, and let the excess power production run back into the grid. This has proven quite effective in both Germany, Denmark and other countries, as ordinary people suddenly see solar panels on their roof as an investment.

[bigbamboo]

if they built a coal fired power plant in Krabi, where would the coal come from? i assume from somewhere by sea right as there is no rail to krabi.

I suppose when the PM visits Japan she could ask if they could come in and build a railway here in double quick time.

Been done before.

[samran]

if they built a coal fired power plant in Krabi, where would the coal come from? i assume from somewhere by sea right as there is no rail to krabi.

Imported, probably from Indonesia or Australia.

[samran]

All politicians are liars!

And inane four word cliche's are easy.

[Wombat6]

I think they should be looking at more Wind powered Turbines instead of dirty coal fired plants. There are wind farms just coming on line in Korat and one in Nakhon Si Tamarat. due for completion in a few months. Wind farms are needed along the Andaman coast to assist with increased Power usage in the area.

[ResX]

lightning striking a high-voltage transmission line... There are two such lines but the other one was under maintenance.

All the original news reports said there was just a single line connecting the Central and Southern regions...

Now suddenly, the news reports say there are two... but the other one was out of service...

Can't tell who's doing a crappier job... the journalists...or the government.

And it takes them a full day-plus to come up with the lightning explanation???

I would say one HV tower but double circuited. No HV line comes with a single circuit as far as I know and as far as I have experienced. There should be 4 lines all together or more. Two lines, 230kV lines had failed earlier. I would say the same failure mode i.e. overloaded or overcurrent as opposed to what the authority wanted us to beleive, i.e. lighting strike.

Two HV circuits are always conveniently separated to make them as almost totally independent from each other. This means a single lighting strike on one of the lines the other line will not be effected. Unless two strikes just happen to hit the two lines within the duration of 30 minutes.... Then both lines can be considered fail at the same time

It is easier for me to beleive that one of the 230kV lines had been overloaded much earlier. By right the authority should curtail load in the South to ensure the healthy 230kV line will not carry greater than 50% of its capacity. But no pro active load curtailment was carried out. The grid dispatcher took chance to load the healthy line up to 100% or so although the normal rating should be around 50% (The N-1 stability requirement). With very little safety margin left, then anything could go wrong. Something when wrong after that. Thus the two lines were off.

My justification is that even the more powerful double circuited 500kV HV line could not stand the load (they tripped too later) then what chance that a 230kV double circuited could stand it?

[Tep]

I think they should be looking at more Wind powered Turbines instead of dirty coal fired plants. There are wind farms just coming on line in Korat and one in Nakhon Si Tamarat. due for completion in a few months. Wind farms are needed along the Andaman coast to assist with increased Power usage in the area.

Irrespective of your desire for more wind turbines along the Andaman Coast, there are physical factors that determine the location of current wind technologies, such as wind speed, wind patters, spacing of turbines etc. My understanding of the wind map of Thailand is that the two areas you mentioned, Korat and Nakhon Si Tamarat are the most suitable for wind turbines. Other locations seem to be not suitable.

There is also the issue of how the power usage needs of an area will be served when the wind is not blowing.

The idea of coal being 'dirty' is relative. There are technologies to mitigate the environmental impact and the cost of these would be passed to the consumer. There are many coal power plants around the world that have won awards for their environmental management technologies and techniques. Thailand desperately needs to diversify its power production away from gas and coal is a viable option.

[Tep]

The only hings in life that are unavoidable are death and taxes - and the hi-so element may well not go along with the second item.

Quite a few years ago i stopped my stroll along Pattaya Klang to watch workmen relaying even more wires to the knitting overhead. I chatted to the foreman and said <deleted> don't you put the bloody wires underground? If they are not power lines why not use fibre optic? He shrugged his shoulders and uttered one word. Predictably it was 'THAILAND"

Both MEA and PEA have investment plans for underground cabling. MEA's is on their website. Underground cabling requires investment and the cost of this is passed to the consumer in the power tariff. Consequently, MEA and PEA need to get approval for their investment plans. In the past, the government has opted for a 'lower quality but lower cost' electricity service which meant less investment available for things like underground cabling for cosmetic purposes.

[Tep]

To add a different perspective on this debate, I read an article a few days ago about power generation in Germany. Nuclear and fossil fuels are slowly be phased out and being replaced by solar power and other eco-friendly alternatives. Apparently Germany, not as close to the equator as Thailand, is a world leader in the use of solar power. Rather than build a coal fired power station, look at installing solar panels on buildings, certainly new buildings, and do some work on the power distribution grid to eliminate waste.

Nearly 50% of the power tariff in Germany is comprised of taxes, fees, concession levies and costs of feed in tariffs for renewable energy. It is not clear whether a majority of German power consumers agree with this government policy however the 'New Energy' policy in Germany is prioritising renewable energy. Interestingly, when the variability of renewable energy causes problems for the four German Transmission System Operators, they often purchase power from France that is generated by the very much active nuclear power plants.

The other problem that Germany is creating for its neighbours is also related to the variability of renewable energy. The intermittent flows of power from the wind farms in the North of Germany have to be sent to the South of Germany via transmission systems in neighbouring countries like Czech and Hungary. Large intermittent loads are straining these systems to the extent that they are looking at devices to switch off German power flows. Also, they cannot charge any transmission fee for this due to EU treaty obligations.

German renewable energy experience is valuable but may not be a model to be blindly followed by everyone.