New electricity dam to be built in Kanchanaburi

BANGKOK, 27 January 2016 (NNT) – The Cabinet has approved the construction of a new hydro-electric powered dam in Kanchanaburi by the Ministry of Energy, expected an annual electrical production capacity of 90 million units.

The Prime Minister’s Office Spokesman Maj Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd has revealed that the Cabinet’s meeting yesterday has approved the construction plan of the Ban Chan Dae hydro-electric powered dam in Kanchanaburi Province. The project was proposed by the Ministry of Energy and will be pursued by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT).

The damn will be 110 meters long, have a width of 10 meters. Standing at 20 meters tall, the stone dam will utilize the water flow of Kwai Noi River released from Vajiralongkorn Dam located to the north, to produce 90 units of electricity each year starting from December 2019.

The dam will be constructed within a 3.54 billion baht budget allocated from 25 percent of EGAT’s revenues, while the remaining 75 percent will come from loans and bonds. The project will require no financial guarantee by the Ministry of Finance as EGAT is considered credible enough to shoulder loans.


-- NNT 2016-01-27

WHY is the emphasis here on electricity instead of water management?

WHY is the emphasis here on electricity instead of water management?

Because it is being built by EGAT? Most dams are multi-purpose - generation, storage and flood mitigation, with emphasis varying with circumstance.

WHY is the emphasis here on electricity instead of water management?

The water is already dammed upstream so is already "managed".

WHY is the emphasis here on electricity instead of water management?

Because Thailand has a serious electricity-shortfall, it plans to buy from Laos amongst others, and EGAT want to build more coal/lignite-burning generating-capacity to help meet it, at least hydro is clean energy.

Every April there are power-cuts or brown-outs, when the gas-pipelines from Burma are closed for maintenance, there's a real problem here.

water and electricity are the two main services which do need some attention water in particular every year we have a serious shortfall simply because people have no conception about the conservation of water,

....................................to produce 90 units of electricity each year starting from December 2019.

Mmm, not even enough to cover my monthly usage, Another EGAT FAIL

....................................to produce 90 units of electricity each year starting from December 2019.

Mmm, not even enough to cover my monthly usage, Another EGAT FAIL

90 million units. Like to see you use that in a month.

....................................to produce 90 units of electricity each year starting from December 2019.

Mmm, not even enough to cover my monthly usage, Another EGAT FAIL

90 million units. Like to see you use that in a month.

My bad. Missed the misprint firther down the article.

Kanchanaburi is earthquake country.

While a stone embankment dam is far cheaper than a steel-reinforced concrete dam and quicker to build, a stone dam might be more susceptible to partial or full failure in a magnitude 5.5-7 earthquake due to liquefaction and/or simple collapsing.

Kanchanaburi is earthquake country.

While a stone embankment dam is far cheaper than a steel-reinforced concrete dam and quicker to build, a stone dam might be more susceptible to partial or full failure in a magnitude 5.5-7 earthquake due to liquefaction and/or simple collapsing.

And you think that the engineers who design and build this dam won't have taken that into consideration?

BTW I did note the cop-out phrase "might be more susceptible to.."