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ารวจการใช
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งงานในครั
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Reduce dependency on natural gas
Thailand has approximately 32,000 MW of power production
capacity. In early April, a temporary shutdown of imported natural gas
from Myanmar is expected to reduce that power output by
approximately 6,000 MW of electricity production capability.
This will result in a limited power output of 26,000 MW, while the
forecasted power consumption during this reduced capacity period is
expected to reach 26,500 MW. This leaves a 500 MW gap in demand and
supply of power. The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and
government entities have announced a contingency plan to mitigate this by
firing up old power plants, increasing domestic and international power
purchases and other measures including greater coordination with industrial
plants. This begs the question, how reliant are we on a single source of fuel
for our power production?
"Energy Statistics of Thailand 2012" states that the total installed
power capacity is 31,447 MW, of which 67 per cent utilizes natural gas as its
fuel source. Twenty per cent of total natural gas consumption is imported.
Most of the imported natural gas is from Myanmar, and a small fraction is
imported as liquefied natural gas.
Domestic natural gas is sourced from 13 major fields both inland and
at sea. The current largest oil field is the Bangkok Project, 600 kilometers south
of Bangkok in the Gulf of Thailand. Bangkok and the Thailand-Malaysia Joint
Development Area projects produce approximately 18 per cent and 15 per
cent of all natural production of the regional natural gas market, respectively.
The significant use of natural gas in power production has left the
country largely dependent on the reliability of natural gas supply for most of
the nation's power demand. If there is any maintenance or downtime, such as
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