ASEAN agrees to integrate power supplies

VIENTIANE, LAOS, September 24 (TNA) - All 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have agreed to integrate their power supplies to cut costs. The agreement was reached at the 32nd ASEAN Ministers on Energy Meeting (AMEM), held in Vientiane, Laos' capital, from September 23-24. Under the agreement, all the 10 ASEAN member countries will connect and integrate their energy markets, covering electricity trade, to cut electricity generating costs, secure regional energy supply in the long run and boost the 10-member bloc's competitiveness on the global energy market. The AMEM issued on Wednesday a joint statement on a regional electricity trade project between Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, which promotes and supports Thailand's potential to become an ASEAN hub of power trade. Thai Energy Minister Narongchai Akrasanee, who heads a Thai delegation to attend the 32nd AMEM, told TNA Thailand and the three ASEAN neighboring countries have agreed in principle that the project begins with Laos selling electricity directly to Singapore, located about 2,000 kilometers apart. Narongchai said that, initially, Singapore will tentatively buy 100 megawatts of electricity from Laos, and that the agreement represents a good start of the ASEAN Power Grid Project. According to the Thai energy minister, the four ASEAN member countries will form a joint committee to study technical issues and the price for the cross-border power trade and Thailand will host a meeting of the joint committee in November 2014. The AMEM also discussed regional gas pipeline development, paving the way for transnational gas trade in the future. (TNA)