Thailand carries on key policies

BANGKOK, February 18 (TNA) - The Thai Ministry of Energy has announced seven major energy policies, aimed to sustain the national energy security. Thai Energy Minister Pongsak Raktapongpaisal spoke of the seven policies when he inaugurated a meeting on policies and directions of his ministry and its government-sector energy saving campaigns, held in Bangkok on Monday, elaborating that they include the Energy Bridge policy to link oil trade between the Andaman Sea and the Gulf of Thailand. Pongsak acknowledged that the policies also include the introduction of standard oil prices nationwide through the installation of oil pipelines, the development of community-based renewable energy production from nipa grass and the value-added transformation of farm goods, like sugarcane, cassava and oil palm, into ethanol and bioplastic. Besides, the energy minister stressed on balance between the exploitation of available energy and the development of renewable energy, insisting that the newly-introduced policies should help keep the balance. Meanwhile, Norkun Sitthiphong, Permanent Secretary for Energy, cautioned that Myanmar's suspension of its gas supply to Thailand from April 4-12, 2013 for maintenance of its production bases, would lead to a drop in the country's electricity reserve margin from 1,500 megawatts to 600 megawatts, amid increased domestic power demand in the upcoming summer, when local factories should also be accelerating their production before the annual traditional Thai New Year, or Songkran, long-holiday period. Norkun told reporters that his ministry is negotiating with neighbouring Myanmar to postpone its planned gas supply suspension to the Songkran festival, when Thailand will need less electricity. According to the senior official, his ministry is, however, preparing to use oil for electricity generation in place of gas, despite its higher costs, and asked people to, on the other hand, help save their power consumption to reduce energy risks during the period. (TNA)