[Tlc] TL=Hydroelectric Power

[justinm at ucr.edu]

2007-0908 - BKK Post - Thailand signs Laos power purchase

http://www.bangkokpost.com/topstories/topstories.php?id=121437

Thailand signs Laos power purchase

Bangkok (dpa)

Thailand has agreed to buy 5,000 megawatts of
hydro-electricity from land-locked Laos by the year 2015, and
is discussing imports of another 2,000mw thereafter, energy
officials revealed on Friday.

"In addition to the implementation of the 5,000 megawatts as
agreed in the 2006 memorandum of understanding, we are now
discussing an additional 2,000 megawatts, or higher, to be
supplied to Thailand after 2015," Lao Energy Minister
Bosaykham Vongdara told a seminar in Bangkok on "sustainable
hydropower development" hosted by the World Bank.

Laos, Thailand's neighbour to the north across the Mekong
River, ranks among the world's poorest nations. But the
mountainous country, half the size of France, is rich in
rivers capable of generating an estimated 20,000mw of electricity.

The country's current hydro-electricity capacity is less than
700mw, much of which is already exported to Thailand. By the
year 2010, with the completion of the Nam Theun II dam, the
national capacity should be boosted to 1,800mw.

Thailand's Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT)
will be the main buyer of the Nam Theun II hydro-electricity.

The $1.1 billion Nam Theun II project has been built by a
consortium including the Lao government, France's EDF and two
Thai companies. The massive project received a guarantee from
the World Bank, which has insisted the dam fulfilled stringent
environmental and social impact standards.

Nam Theun II has thus far won favourable critiques from visitors.

"Hydro-projects in Laos have shown the world that
hydro-projects can be environmentally friendly," said Thai
Minister of Energy Piyasvasti Amranand.

Thailand is also considering importing hydro-eelcturiy from
neighbouring Myanmar, which has massive plans to dam up the
Salween River, flooding territory currently under the control
of the Karen minority group that has been waging a guerrilla
war against the Myanmar military for six decades.

Environmentalist and human rights groups have condemned the
project and criticized Thailand for offering itself as a
market for the proposed Salween hydro-electricity.

"There is a feasibility study going on," said Piyasvasti of
the Salween dam. "This is not at the investment stage yet."

Piyasvasti said Thailand's current priority was to buy
hydro-electircity from Laos.

"We are brothers. We speak the same language and it's a lot
easier to work with Laos. Myanmar will be further beyond on
the time horizon."

Thailand and Laos share similar languages and cultures, but
different political systems. Laos is one of the world's last
communist regimes. Thailand has been experimenting with
democracy for the past 75 years.

Piyasvasti has been a controversial energy minister in
Thailand because he has pushed the government to put nuclear
energy on its development plans.

"In the long run, we need to look at something which is
sustainable, something which is cost effective, and something
which doesn't worsen global warming," Piyasvasti told the
World Bank seminar. "I think the only answer is nuclear."

Thailand's timeframe is to spend the next seven years
preparing for nuclear energy use, then six years for
construction before commissioning three to four plants by the
year 2020.

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