part 1: overview of cogeneration and its status in asia - Fire

Cogeneration in Asia today 55
1.3.3 Impact of regional economic crises on cogeneration development
Initially, proposals were submitted by 91 potential SPPs to sell over 4,680 MW of electricity to
the utility grid. The power utility issued notification of acceptance of electricity from 70 SPPs
with a total power capacity of 2,951 MW, with 48 firm contracts (2,806 MW) and 22 non-firm
contracts (145 MW). 3
The regional economic crises have had serious impacts on the development of cogeneration
projects, many due to the devaluation of the currency affecting project investment costs.
Thanks to the intervention of the Ministry of Finance in the form of adjusting the currency
exchange system to a Baht float system, many SPPs have managed to survive and continue
their projects. As of June 1998, the number of SPPs proposing to sell electricity had gone
down to 56 in number, and the total capacity proposed amounted to 2,470 MW. Though EGAT
has committed to buy up to 2,436 MW of power from the SPPs, 51 power purchase
agreements have been signed so far between the utility and SPPs for supply of 2,255 MW.
The status of these projects is summarized in Table 1.4.
Table 1.4 Impact of financial crises on the status of SPP projects (June 1998)
Status Number of
SPP
PPAs signed
• in operation
• final stage of development
• early stage of construction
• no construction/financing
51
29
9
3
10
Total generating
capacity (MW)
4,336
1,529
887
480
1,439
Capacity sale to
EGAT (MW)
2,255
It is estimated that 10 projects totalling 1,479 MW of installed capacity would not be
completed, reducing the power purchased by EGAT to 1,795 MW, of which 1,608 MW will be
on firm-contract basis.
It is interesting to note that 22 of the projects based on natural gas as fuel have all signed firm
contract agreement with EGAT for a period ranging from 21 to 25 years. These are followed
by 13 projects which use bagasse as fuel and which have signed non-firm contracts due to
the seasonal availability of the fuel as a waste in sugar mills.
The first two important SPP projects which went into commercial operation in 1996 with an
aggregated installed capacity of 300 MW, have signed firm contracts with EGAT to make a
total of 180 MW capacity available for a period of 21 years. Located in a newly developed
industrial zone, the plants use offshore natural gas as fuel and sell the cogenerated steam at
two different pressures to several industries in the industrial estate.
Some of the regulations in place may require further fine-tuning and refining on the basis of
experience gained. On the whole, Thailand has set an excellent example to other developing
countries in the region concerning how a combination of good policy initiatives, regulatory
measures, and rational tariff structure can assure a rapid development of cogeneration. An
active participation of the private sector can help to alleviate the financial burden on the
national power utility.
3 P. Srisovanna, “Thailand’s experiences with promotion of cogeneration”, ESCAP South-East Asia
Sub-regional Seminar on Promotion of Energy Efficiency and Pollution Control through Cogeneration,
Hanoi, 10-11 November 1998.
693
630
270
662