People in Thai South urged to be prepared for possible power disruption in mid-2014

BANGKOK, April 1 (TNA) - The Ministry of Energy has urged people in the Thai South to save their electricity consumption, as possible natural gas supply disruption from Malaysia in in mid-2014 may affect power generation in the region. Permanent Secretary for Energy Suthep Liumsirijarern told journalists on Tuesday that he is concerned over electricity supply in the South, where demand has been growing faster than those in other Thai regions. Suthep revealed that natural gas production facilities in the Thailand-Malaysia Joint Development Area (JDA) will undergo maintenance from June 13-July 10, 2014 and, consequently, the Chana power plant in Thailand's southern Songkhla Province is to suspend its generation during the period. According to the senior official, electricity demand in the Thai South is expected to reach its peak during the period, exceeding 2,500 megawatts, while electricity generation in the region will drop to 2,300 megawatts. Suthep said he has, thus, ordered concerned agencies to be prepared to cope with the situation and to persuade people to conserve their power consumption. The state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) reported, meanwhile, that electricity consumption in the Thai South peaked at 2,457 megawatts at the night of March 29, 2014 when the temperature was at 32 degrees Celsius, 1.37 per cent increase from last year's peak of 2,423.8 megawatts at 7.30pm on April 2, 2013. EGAT estimated that nationwide electricity consumption should reach its new peak at 27,077 megawatts later this month due to high temperatures in the summer, while last year's peak was at 26,598.10 megawatts. Electricity consumption in Thailand started to rise last month and peaked at 26,105.94 megawatts on March 31. (TNA)