Coal-fired power plant will improve your lives, Songkhla residents assured

[webfact]

Coal-fired power plant will improve your lives, Songkhla residents assured

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The Nation

 

Thepa district residents and Prince Songkla University students march Wednesday in Pattani's Mueang district to protest against the coal-fire power plant project in Thepa.              

 

SONGKHLA: -- The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has promised people living near the planned coal-fired power plant in Songkhla better livelihoods, with Muslim traditions preserved and a new source of income through the sale of biomass pellets to the state agency.

 

In a press conference on Wednesday at the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (Onep), Egat deputy governor Saharat Boonpotipukdee responded to concerns raised by a group opposing the power plant. 

 

He said the plant’s neighbours would profit from the 2,200-megawatt facility in Thepa district and their local traditions would be “cherished”.

 

He was hoping to alter plans by opponents to stage a mass rally next month, announced after Onep endorsed the Environmental and Health Impact Assessment on the project.

 

“Not only will this plant burn premium-quality coal from abroad to generate power,” Saharat said, “2 per cent of that power will come from burning biomass pellets that can be supplied by local people to earn income.

 

“We will encourage people to cultivate fast-growing trees, such as acacia and eucalyptus, and process components of the trees as biomass pellets that can be sold to the power plant or on the international market. The pellets currently sell for around Bt800 per tonne and the market price is still rising.”

 

Saharat stressed that the power plant would not affect people’s livelihoods or customs. Mosques and cemeteries at the construction site would be protected and people would still be able to conduct their traditional religious ceremonies, he said. A Muslim school on the site would be moved to a larger property nearby.

 

Onep secretary-general Raweewan Bhuridej insisted that the environmental assessment had been properly conducted and reviewed by experts. 

 

People needn’t be concerned about environmental or health impacts, he said. The plant would be equipped with the necessary controls to ensure that pollutant emissions were acceptable.

 

Soutane: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30325288

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-30

[Lupatria]

Yeah, at least for the owners of posh hospitals while the coughing club gets more hiso members every day.

[KIWIBATCH]

........"The plant would be equipped with the necessary controls to ensure that pollutant emissions were acceptable....."

 

Acceptable to who?......the Pollution Control Board who after receiving numerous brown envelopes...deemed the black smoke and soot coming from the plant and slowly but surely covering the immediate area...as "acceptable".....

[Krataiboy]

Yeah, but. . . 

 

Coal plants in Thailand cause an estimated 1,550 premature deaths every year according to new research by Harvard University and Greenpeace Southeast Asia. That number could climb to 5,300 a year if plans to expand electricity production by building new coal-fired plants go ahead.

 

Ah, well - you can't make an omelet. . . 

 

[nobodysfriend]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

“Not only will this plant burn premium-quality coal from abroad to generate power,”

Means pollution from the TRANSPORT of the coal as well ...

 

18 hours ago, webfact said:

“We will encourage people to cultivate fast-growing trees, such as acacia and eucalyptus, and process components of the trees as biomass pellets that can be sold to the power plant or on the international market. The pellets currently sell for around Bt800 per tonne and the market price is still rising.”

Wow , coal plant eats trees ... 800 baht for 1000 kg of transformed trees is a lot , no ?

 

18 hours ago, webfact said:

Mosques and cemeteries at the construction site would be protected and people would still be able to conduct their traditional religious ceremonies, he said

At least leave them a place to pray to their god it's the only thing left to do if that massive polluter is being built ...

 

18 hours ago, webfact said:

People needn’t be concerned about environmental or health impacts, he said. The plant would be equipped with the necessary controls to ensure that pollutant emissions were acceptable.

I would not believe this in a high tech western country ... but in Thailand ?

Somebody should tell them them that today energy can be generated by non polluting means , like solar ...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nobodysfriend]

18 hours ago, webfact said:

that pollutant emissions were acceptable

Acceptable ?

Acceptable by whom ? The Government ?  People living there ?

Look , he still can walk on his own , he's not dead yet from pollution , that's acceptable , no ?

 

[GOLDBUGGY]

This 2,200-Megawatt Power Plant is huge. If this is correct it will produce more power than Hoover Dam, which is just over 2,000-Megawatts, and supplies power to about 8 Million People (estimated). So for Thai's who on average use less power, it would supply more people. 

 

In this day and age you can't really get away from not needing and using power. The days of the Kerosene Lamp are long gone in most places and the age of TV's. Refrigerators, and Aircons are in. Even I complained at times when the power goes off here for what appears to be no reason, but I have also been to Lagos Nigeria, with power cuts almost every hour of every day. 

 

It is nice to think that we do have the technoloy to produce power from wind turbines, or solar panels. I often thought that will all the sunshine in Thailand it would be a perfect place for solar power. But this technology is also very expensiive to produce power, and above the cost most people are willing to pay. 

 

Hydro Power is also a great way to produce power, like Hoover Dam, but Thailand has very limited places, if any, in where it could build such a dam and make it feasible. After the huge Capital Costs are recovered, Nuclear Power is also very cheap to produce, but I wouldn't want one of those Power Plants next to my house. Diesel Fueled Power Plants are cheaper and easy to set up, but the cost to operate them is probably higher than solar power. 

 

So this leave Thailand with 3 choices when it comes to having the power needed here. Import Power from another country, which is not as dependable and more expensive then producing there own. Natural Gas Fired Power Plants, which are much cleaner and are very efficient, but Thailand lacks in the Natural Gas Supply to operate them. Then lastly Coal Fired Power Plants, which are the cheapest to own and operate and also use the cheapest fuel. 

 

Of course not matter what steps they take, which there are many they can take, Coal is still a dirty fuel. There is really no way around that. But it is also the cheapest way to produce electricity. There is plenty of coal around still, including Thailand, although a lower grade of coal, so securing a long term supply at a good price is still easy to do. 

 

For the future I see Thailand building Liquified Natural Gas Plants, to import LNG and convert this gas to power. Japan gets most of its energy this way now. Especially after they shut down a lot of there Nuclear Power Plants. There is now a huge supply out there, that could easily increase if the demand suggested that, so the long term supply aand price for this is still cheap and ffeasible to use. 

 

 

[GOLDBUGGY]

A good example of expensive power comes from the Island of Crete. When I was there (10 years ago now) most of the power was generated from Wind Turbines. A great renewable resource and polution free. But also very expensive power to buy and use back then. 

 

It was so expensive that most of the hotels there did not have air-conditioning in the hotels or rooms, although Crete is a very hot place to live. Only 4 and 5 Star Hotels had Air-conditionng, and even then they only ran that during the heat of the day. I don't recall seeing one house, bar, or restaurant, who had air-conditioning. Not even one! House are built high up, with a ballcony on the roof, to take in the cool ocean breezes, and the rest were outside. 

 

Of course this was 10 years ago now, and in which many things could have changed. The price and cost of Solar Panels have changed a lot since then and came down, so perhaps people there now have them there. Importing LNG was also quite a new thing then to, with limited supplies, which is no longer the case.  

 

But it is a good example of when the cost of electricty is high, people are forced to use less. A Good Thing, or Bad thing, I won't debate. But I for one prefer to have power at a cheap cost and run my aircons during the day and night, or when I feel like it, without worrying about my power bill. 

[nobodysfriend]

Burning fossile fuels should be a thing of the past .

It may be cheaper now , but in the long run not , because the damages created by pollution need to be repaired .

I have seen huge solar power plants installed on former waste deposits , ( in another country of course , ) capable of supplying enough energy for a big city .

The only responsible way to create energy in the future is renewable , non polluting ways , the world is polluted enough already , burning of fossile fuels is definitely the wrong way .

[Guest Jerry787]

well assurance, did the Thai Gov prepare a plan for lung cancer, leukemia and so on.

coal firing plants are outdate, no one want them anymore, even in china they start to shut them down, only  the dump trump e songkhla where quite few some one are making quite big money over the heath of the population