Every household will have electricity by the end of next year, says Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) governor Numchai Lorwattanatrakul.
A vendor near Wat Pho in Bangkok manages her business under low light. The Provincial Electricity Authority is promising to provide electricity to all households in the country next year. It estimates 100,000 homes still do not have access to power. WISIT THAMNGERN
He said 100,000 homes nationwide still did not have electricity.
“We’ve been trying to make it accessible for everybody and now it is nearly 100%,” said Mr Numchai.
Some houses and villages still do not have electricity due to deep forested areas that make it difficult to erect power poles.
It is estimated that 5 billion baht will be needed next year to provide power to the 100,000 homes. Of these, 70,000 will receive electricity via transmission lines and 30,000 will have solar panels.
Solar panels are more efficient than a decade ago, now able to power four lights, one fan and a TV compared with only two lights and a TV set 10 years back.
The PEA’s service area includes the entire country, with 18 million registered homes excluding Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan, which together have 3 million homes overseen by the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA).
Each house in the MEA’s service area already has access to electricity.
“We would be the second country in Asean to provide power to each home,” Mr Numchai said.
Next year, the PEA plans to spend 23 billion baht to develop underground electric wiring in 32 major tourist and business communities including Chiang Mai, Hua Hin, Phuket, Phitsanulok and Ayutthaya.
“We want to improve the landscape at our tourist destinations,” Mr Numchai said.
The PEA has already submitted a budget request to the cabinet. If approved, the project will start construction by the end of next year.
From 2015-17, the PEA also plans to spend 8 billion baht on installing 400,000 LED sets on major highways nationwide to save energy. The project started last year with 16,000 sets installed, while 384,000 remain in the pipeline.
To promote greater use of LED, it plans to meet with Suvarnabhumi airport, the Royal Thai Police and businesses about installing LED in their office buildings.
Mr Numchai said electricity demand this year would grow by an estimated 2%, while next year would be 5% thanks to an economic recovery primed by government megaproject investment.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/447603/pea-boss-vows-every-home-will-have-power-by-2015
