Bangkok--Oct 3--Weber Shandwick (Thailand)
The Governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), Mr Sitthiporn Ratanopas, will brief an international group of energy investors in Singapore on October 6, on the concept and planning of the ASEAN Power Grid.
Mr Sitthiporn will make his presentation at a conference entitled “Financing Power and Energy Projects in Asia”. He is expected to speak for about an hour on the morning of the first day of the two-day conference, organized by a private body called Project Finance International.
It is expected that Mr Sitthiporn will address all the main issues and questions surrounding the ASEAN Power Grid, including its feasibility and progress to date.
The ASEAN Power Grid is a regional concept agreed to by ASEAN heads of state during an informal summit held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in December 1997.
The idea is to build up a network in which countries in the region may share their energy resources to mutual benefit.
Eventually, the ASEAN Grid would involve multi-lateral (involving all ASEAN countries) power sharing projects rather than only bilateral (involving only two countries) ones which exist today.
As an initial step towards establishing the Power Grid, ASEAN government ministers and top energy officials, in July 1999, commissioned a study to identify existing as well as potential inter-country energy projects. The ASEAN Interconnection Master Plan Study (AIMS) was begun in July 2000 and completed this year.
EGAT was appointed to chair the working group that conducted the study, which identified 11 possible interconnection projects in various ASEAN countries.
It also made projections of individual countries’ energy needs for the 20 years (until 2020), concluding that several ASEAN countries, especially Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia would double their current energy needs.
A panel discussion will follow Mr Sitthiporn’s talk at the conference, which will be opened by Singapore’s Minister of State for Trade and Industry, Mr Raymond Lim.
For more information on the concept and background of the ASEAN POWER GRID,
please contact:
Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT):
Supot Triwiwat, Tel. 662 2436 4858, E-mail:
[email protected]
mailto:
[email protected] , Tatree Riewcharoen, Tel. (66 2) 436 4863,
E-mail:
[email protected] mailto:
[email protected] or
Weber Shandwick: Tachakorn Limpasurat, Tel. (66 2) 257 0300 ext.314,
E-mail:
[email protected]
mailto:
[email protected] End.
-RK-