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Egat to extend the lives of coal-fired power stations

Power generation facilities operated by Egat in Lampang's Mae Mo district.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is planning to refurbish two coal-fired power generation units in a move to extend their service life and prolong the supply of low-cost electricity to the country.

Refurbishment of power generators refers to carrying out only necessary maintenance of machinery in order to increase efficiency without a need to repower, or completely rebuild the facilities.

The plan is part of Egat's efforts to help curb the power tariff, which is used to calculate electricity bills, as coal is an inexpensive fuel, said an official who requested anonymity.

The authority is currently conducting a feasibility study on refurbishing the two facilities -- Units 8 and 9 -- which are nearing the retirement stage.

Details like how many years the service life can be extended for and the estimated budget are expected to be finalised once the study is completed in 2025, the official said.

Units 8 and 9 are among seven power generation units still in operation in Lampang, with a total contracted generation capacity of 2,220 megawatts.

These two units, each with a power generation capacity of 320MW, are required to further generate electricity to help the country reduce its dependence on importing liquefied natural gas (LNG), he said.

LNG is more expensive than gas produced domestically, but as the domestic gas supply is declining, the country needs to purchase more LNG.

Gas from domestic sources and LNG imports make up 60% of the fuels used to generate power in Thailand.

Egat earlier called for bids for a project to replace the ageing machinery used in Units 8 and 9 at a cost of 35 billion baht. Only one company bid in the auction, causing Egat to initiate another bidding process, which did not attract any bidders.

Egat has a total of 14 units