The headquarters of Egat on Charan Sanitwong Road in Nonthaburi. (Source: Bangkok Post)
The State-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) plans to import an additional 1,200 megawatts of electricity from hydroelectric power plants in Laos under a long-term purchase contract, reported the local newspaper Bangkok Post.
Egat earlier signed a memorandum of understanding with the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) to buy a total of 9,000MW.
Egat's current power supply stands at 10,200MW, said Jiraporn Sirikum, deputy governor of Egat.
Eight power plants in Laos with a combined power generation capacity of 5,420MW are committed to exporting electricity to Egat. Seven of them, with a capacity of 3,947MW, are hydroelectric power plants, while the other is a 1,473MW coal-fired power plant.
Thailand’s 2018 national power development plan (first revision) states broadly that the nation needs to import electricity from neighbouring countries, without specifying the countries or power generation projects.
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