Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand May Pay Higher Fee for Power.

Byline: Yuthana Praiwan

Jul. 8--The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has tentatively agreed to raise the price it will pay for electricity to Union Power Development Co, the operator of the Hin Krut power project, once it is relocated.

An Egat source said the state utility and Union Power management had agreed on a new price of 1.70 baht a unit (kilowatt/hour) for the plant's 25-year concession period, up from 1.58 baht in the original power purchase agreement.

The increase is intended to compensate for the opportunity loss by Union Power because Egat has postponed by three years the scheduled start of purchases from the 1,400-megawatt independent power project. Egat said recently that it would not begin purchasing the power until 2008 due to lower-than-expected growth in electricity demand.

However, the source said, the final decision on amending the power purchase deal would be left to Egat's board of directors and the Energy Ministry.

"Though the price is increasing, we (Egat) will make an all-out effort to control power prices at an appropriate level that will not cause too much burden to consumers," he said.

Egat also has to negotiate compensation with Gulf Electric, operator of the Bo Nok power project, from which planned purchases have also been postponed.