Thailand’s cabinet today resolved that state agencies should reduce their energy consumption by 10 per cent, otherwise they will face budget reductions, government spokesperson Tossaporn Serirak announced today.
The move came in the wake of warnings of possible hours-long power outages in the first half of April due to an expected disruption of the natural gas supply from Myanmar.
No lower than 25 degrees
The cabinet also resolved that government offices set an example for the public, starting with raising air conditioners thermostats to 25 degrees Celsius, rather than lower temperatures.
Meanwhile, PTT Natural Gas Business Unit deputy managing director Chakri Burakanon said the firm is considering how to locate gas of about 200,000 cubic feet to generate power in the system in order to offset the lack of Myanmar gas supply, at some 100 million cubic feet/day, and affecting Thailand’s power generation of 4,100 megawatts/day.
Mr Chakri said PTT expects to generate extra gas from its Gulf of Thailand fields at around 100 million cubic feet/day, while at the same time to reduce gas usage in natural gas separation plants by another 100 million cubic feet/day, making 200 million cubic feet/day of gas available.
Thai state agencies asked to cut energy use by 10%: Cabinet | MCOT.net
Myanmar is shutting the gas pipe to Thailand for maintenance next April just when Bangkok reach its best simmering atmosphere, and about 25% of Thailand’s gas supply comes from Myanmar, amounting to 1.1 billion cubic feet per day. Overall, Thailand consumes 4.2 billion to 4.4 billion cubic feet per day. That a lot of gas, and most of it is burned to produce electricity.
Myanmar plans to suspend natural gas delivery of 1.1 billion cubic feet per day to Thailand in order to repair drilling rigs at the Yadana gas field.
The meeting will discuss measures to be put in place in case of an emergency, the minister said. Those measures include sourcing alternative fuel to offset shortfall and asking for cooperation from the public to reduce electricity usage.
Agencies concerned will be instructed to reserve liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports.The possibility to resume operations of mothballed diesel power plants will be discussed at the meeting, he said adding that switching to fuel oil and diesel to produce electricity will increase costs
