SOCPES Power & Energy Blog

15/02/07 - BangkokPost - PTT blasts ministry over gas subsidies, PTT Plc will no longer subsidise the price of natural gas used to produce electricity unless the government pays the money back... that the fuel tariff (Ft) rate that figures into electricity costs wouldn't decline in line with global oil prices because the government needed to pay back PTT for a six-billion-baht Ft subsidy in late 2005...The Ft rate for the four months ending in May will drop only five satang per unit (kilowatt hour) to 73.42 satang, even though it would drop by 7.85 satang if the government didn't owe PTT money.

20/01/07 – The Nation - Egat okays budget of Bt33 bn, National electricity provider is 'looking for funds with the lowest cost' for this year. The board of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) yesterday approved a budget of Bt33 billion for investment this year, with Bt14 billion to come from borrowing... …would allow a reduction in the fuel-tariff (ft) rate, resulting in lower power prices.

12/01/07 – The Age Australia - Asian leaders push 'energy co-operation', Asian countries will hold a summit to discuss a common energy policy, according to the draft of a final statement to be issued by leaders at a regional meeting in the Philippines. The Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) along with China, Japan, South Korea, India, Australia and New Zealand will discuss reducing their dependence on fossil fuels at the proposed summit, a copy of the statement obtained on Friday by Reuters showed.

07/02/07 – Inter. WaterPower - Jinping 2 construction begins, China has begun construction of a second major hydro power station at Jinping, a bend in the Yalong river in the southwestern province of Sichuan, state media reports. Known as the second-tier hydro power plant, the 4.8GW station involves a total investment of yuan 29.8 billion (US$3.7B)…

05/02/07 - Inter. WaterPower - TNB to build new hydro plants, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), the national electricity company in Malaysia, is planning to construct new hydroelectric power plants in Terengganu and Pahang in order to meet rising electricity demand.