The Metropolitan Electricity Authority yesterday started the transmission of 230 kilovolts of electricity via the 7-kilomtre tunnel that runs from Bang Kapi to Chidlom.
MEA governor Pornthape Thunyapomgchai said the underground grid would serve the electricity demand of the business districts of Bangkok, from Silom and Sukhumvit to Phya Thai.
The planned underground relocation of electricity cables, and therefore the removal of poles, in these areas will also mean more pleasant views, he said.
"The timing of the investment in the underground system project was good. If we had invested at this time, it would have cost about Bt10 billion," he added.
The Bt3.9-billion construction of the underground transmission system began in May 2005 and was completed this month.
Bt3 billion of the total was funded by a soft loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency, featuring a repayment period of 25 years and carrying an interest rate of between 1 per cent and 2 per cent with a seven-year grace period.
Meanwhile, the state agency saw a 4.2-per-cent year-on-year decline in electricity consumption in the metropolitan area during the first eight months of the year.
While demand in the manufacturing sector dropped, consumption by the household and department-store segments improved.
The state agency expects an improving situation during the remainder of the year and now forecasts a 2-per-cent drop in demand this full year in the metropolitan area.
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