Egat eyes extending service life of 2 lignite-fired units

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) is planning to extend the service life of two lignite-fired power generation units for a certain period, before decommissioning all its power plants in Lampang to promote clean energy.
The two facilities, Units 8 and 9, are among eight power generation units still in operation in Lampang, with total contracted generation capacity of 2,220 megawatts.
Units 8 and 9 require improvement or replacement as they are nearing the retirement stage.
Egat has a total of 14 units in Lampang province’s Mae Mo district. The authority has already decommissioned Units 1 to 7.
Egat said it has not decided whether to hire experts to improve and increase the efficiency of Units 8 and 9, or whether it plans to carry out that task itself.
“The number of years the units’ service life will be extended was not released,” said an official at the Energy Ministry who requested anonymity.
The decision to extend the life of Units 8 and 9, which have a combined generation capacity of 660MW, was determined because Egat wants to maintain the stability of power supply in the northern, northeastern and upper central regions.
As governments and businesses campaign for a shift towards the development of renewable energy, it has become more difficult to obtain loans to upgrade fossil fuel-fired power plants or find suppliers of spare parts for such plants, said the official.
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 plans to gradually decommission all its power plants at Mae Mo by 2050, in line with the government’s commitment to significantly cut carbon dioxide emissions,” the official said.
Thailand announced in 2021 it would take stronger action to achieve carbon neutrality, a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption, by 2050. The decommissioning plan may be adjusted if carbon capture and storage technology can be proven to be compatible with the commercial operation of lignite-fired power plants, the official said.