EGAT's investment for Thai South and North

BANGKOK, July 8 (TNA) - The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) plans to invest some 60 billion baht on the installation of big electricity transmission cables to supply more electricity from the central to the southern regions to prevent blackouts and to, also, import coal to feed its power plant in Lampang province in the Thai North. EGAT Governor Sutat Patmasiriwat told journalists on Tuesday that he will soon seek an approval from the EGAT board for the installation of 500kV power lines from the Chom Bueng-Bang Saphan power line section to Surat Thani and Phuket provinces to ensure sufficient power supply to the Thai South, with the first phase of the project expected to be complete by 2019. Besides, EGAT governor acknowledged, EGCO Group, Thailand's only independent power producer, plans to build a power plant in Khanom District of Nakhon Si Thammarat province in the Thai South. According to the EGAT governor, the EGAT is also gathering public opinions on its coal-fired power plant project in Krabi province in the Thai South as most people support it, but its construction will depend on the government’s final decision. The EGAT governor noted, meanwhile, that the EGAT's coal-fired power plant in Mae Moh district of Lampang province in the Thai North, which generates electricity for the North and the Central Plain, is foreseen to run out of local coal supply over the next 25 years; so, the EGAT is discussing a coal import route with the State Railway of Thailand (SRT). (TNA)