In a public forum organised yesterday, the Electric Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) was heavily criticised by the local public in Songkhla's Chana district over a controversial power plant.
The plant began operating in 2005 and is still in its first phase.
A resident accused Egat of being a "criminal" that had been plundering Thailand and the local public, as fish in several farms in a village had died last year and early this year. "Egat must show to us how to solve this problem and to compensate those affected, or the problems will become unending," said Hame Tohduan.
Another resident, who asked not to be identified, said Egat instigated conflicts among local residents by treating well a group of them who would be of benefit to Egat - giving them grand meals and free hotel rooms - while a group of farmers who had been affected had been ignored and even had their requests to meet local Egat officials turned down repeatedly.
"Egat has chosen to hear opinions from people of its choice and failed to treat wastewater it has discharged in a canal. The water appears clear but becomes toxic to certain fish, making some fish become extinct," he said.
The forum was the second of its kind in the district. Many years ago Egat had a conflict with Songkhla people concerning a pipeline project, which sparked violent confrontations between police and opponents.
Adirek Madman, chief of the Na Tab Tambon Administrative Organisation, said the new conflict over the power plant project stemmed solely from Egat's lack of sincerity by hiding the entire truth about the project from the local public. He called on Egat to promptly educate the people about the good and bad consequences of the plant as a gesture of goodwill.
Pheeradis Hremae showed pictures of shrimp and fish killed by hot water discharged by the plant into canals to counter an Egat claim that it cooled down hot water before discharging it. He said Egat had acquired public approval from people living in the nearby tambons of Khlong Pia and Pa Ching, but did not do so with Na Tab people before building the power plant.
Sunday, September 27, 2009
Lamphun community forest wins honours
Baan Ta Pa Pao community forest in Lamphun has won the "Best National Community Forest" award and HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn trophy, as part of the "Love the Forest and the Community" programme of the Royal Forest Department and Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding.
With an area of 13,000 rai, the forest has a rich variety of plants, following 10 years of rehabilitation. The forest also contains over 500 types of easy-to-find herbs and serves as a learning centre for children and academics.
The fertile forest provides an abundant supply of water to the community, which is delivered via a supply system than runs through the surrounding mountains.
Baan Ta Pa Pao community forest, which is managed under a three-party collaboration of households, temples and schools, beat other 673 forests listed for the competition.
There were 190 award-winning community forests, including 64 winners for the "Best Provincial Community Forests" and 120 consolation prizes awarded to other projects.
"Our focus is to promote participation in all areas, build networks in all segments and promote comprehensive and sustainable reforestation for economic forests, community forests and innovative forest villages" said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti.
To Noppol Milinthanggoon, president of Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, the awards are expected to boost the spirits of these communities and encourage them to protect and preserve their natural resources and ensure the fertility and sustainability of their food sources. "As a good corporate citizen, we strive to encourage all communities to protect forest resources in an ongoing manner," he said.
With an area of 13,000 rai, the forest has a rich variety of plants, following 10 years of rehabilitation. The forest also contains over 500 types of easy-to-find herbs and serves as a learning centre for children and academics.
The fertile forest provides an abundant supply of water to the community, which is delivered via a supply system than runs through the surrounding mountains.
Baan Ta Pa Pao community forest, which is managed under a three-party collaboration of households, temples and schools, beat other 673 forests listed for the competition.
There were 190 award-winning community forests, including 64 winners for the "Best Provincial Community Forests" and 120 consolation prizes awarded to other projects.
"Our focus is to promote participation in all areas, build networks in all segments and promote comprehensive and sustainable reforestation for economic forests, community forests and innovative forest villages" said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Suwit Khunkitti.
To Noppol Milinthanggoon, president of Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding, the awards are expected to boost the spirits of these communities and encourage them to protect and preserve their natural resources and ensure the fertility and sustainability of their food sources. "As a good corporate citizen, we strive to encourage all communities to protect forest resources in an ongoing manner," he said.
MEA underground grid begins transmission
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.
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.
MEA power-line plan hits difficulties
The Metropolitan Electricity Authority plans talks with City Hall, telecom firms and mass-transit operators to speed up the installation of underground power transmission lines in most areas of the capital.
At present, only Silom Road and the area around the Grand Palace have underground power lines, while work is under way in the Phaya Thai, Sukhumvit and Phahon Yothin areas under a 3-billion-baht project, said MEA governor Pornthape Thunyapongchai.
"It's very difficult for us to bury the transmission lines in Bangkok due to our financial burden and a poor city development plan, which was done several decades ago," he said.
Meanwhile, underground installation has stalled in some areas because some telecom operators are not ready to bury telecom wires due to delayed budget allocations for the project, said Mr Pornthape.
"On some routes, there are many underground objects such as the pipelines for natural gas, tap water and waste water that obstruct us in installing our underground project," he said.
"Consequently, we have to discuss this matter with the operators of those systems."
The authority has estimated it will need to spend more than 160 billion baht to bury all power lines covered by the scheme. The project, however, has been delayed.
"In some area such as Chinatown,the local residents do not welcome this project because it has to close traffic for many years, or because of loud noise during the night time, when construction takes place," he said.
The MEA has discussed with mass transit operators ways to prepare for underground installations along train routes to facilitate the project's development.
"Amid the concerns over climate change, rainstorms in the city have become more severe than before and that would affect security of power transmission along the roads," he said."The MEA, however, has been reluctant to cut down trees because we want to keep as many green areas as possible."
The MEA yesterday officially switched on its second 230,000-volt transmission line from its Phloen Chit headquarters to Min Buri. The route of the 3.9-billionbaht project runs for 7 kilometres under the Saen Saep Canal.
Last year, the first high-voltage line,worth 3 billion baht, was set up, linking Lat Phrao to Vibhavadi Rangsit Road with a length of 8 km.
Two high-voltage transmission tunnels feature in the MEA's multi-billionbaht underground development plan to secure power transmission and improve tourism.
At present, only Silom Road and the area around the Grand Palace have underground power lines, while work is under way in the Phaya Thai, Sukhumvit and Phahon Yothin areas under a 3-billion-baht project, said MEA governor Pornthape Thunyapongchai.
"It's very difficult for us to bury the transmission lines in Bangkok due to our financial burden and a poor city development plan, which was done several decades ago," he said.
Meanwhile, underground installation has stalled in some areas because some telecom operators are not ready to bury telecom wires due to delayed budget allocations for the project, said Mr Pornthape.
"On some routes, there are many underground objects such as the pipelines for natural gas, tap water and waste water that obstruct us in installing our underground project," he said.
"Consequently, we have to discuss this matter with the operators of those systems."
The authority has estimated it will need to spend more than 160 billion baht to bury all power lines covered by the scheme. The project, however, has been delayed.
"In some area such as Chinatown,the local residents do not welcome this project because it has to close traffic for many years, or because of loud noise during the night time, when construction takes place," he said.
The MEA has discussed with mass transit operators ways to prepare for underground installations along train routes to facilitate the project's development.
"Amid the concerns over climate change, rainstorms in the city have become more severe than before and that would affect security of power transmission along the roads," he said."The MEA, however, has been reluctant to cut down trees because we want to keep as many green areas as possible."
The MEA yesterday officially switched on its second 230,000-volt transmission line from its Phloen Chit headquarters to Min Buri. The route of the 3.9-billionbaht project runs for 7 kilometres under the Saen Saep Canal.
Last year, the first high-voltage line,worth 3 billion baht, was set up, linking Lat Phrao to Vibhavadi Rangsit Road with a length of 8 km.
Two high-voltage transmission tunnels feature in the MEA's multi-billionbaht underground development plan to secure power transmission and improve tourism.
Ratchaburi targets wind
Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc (RATCH) plans to invest more in wind-power projects, possibly in the North and Northeast, for which it is now conducting a feasibility study.
Thawat Vimolsarawong, senior executive vice-president for business development, said billions of baht in new investment would be spent on additional wind-power project, with further details should be concluded within next year.
"We are currently gathering information on prime locations and discussing possibilities with potential partners. Project capacities would depend on the prevailing wind magnitude in each location," said Mr Thawat.
For each megawatt of wind power,60 million baht in investment is needed.
He said wind power was the most promising renewable power source for Thailand. Other sources do not offer as satisfactory a level of return on investment.
Its 60-megawatt wind farm worth 4.274 billion baht in Khao Kho, Phetchabun, is currently awaiting approval from the Royal Forestry Department to use 1,000 rai of land. Construction is expected to start late this year or early next year as planned.
The project is being developed by Sustainable Energy Corporation (SEC)which is 60% owned by Renewable Energy Co, a local research house for alternative fuel,35% by Ratchaburi and 10% by retail investors.
The Thai power producer also has four ongoing projects in Laos but some are on hold as domestic power demand has been affected by the global slump.
Its Nam Ngum 3 and Xe Pien Xe Nam Noi hydropower projects, which are both undergoing price negotiations with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), could be delayed by one or two years from the original plan to operate by 2013.
The increase in construction costs driven by more expensive crude last year has led the company to propose a new power price to Egat, which is also reassessing domestic demand.
Mr Thawat said the Nam Ngum 2 plant, on which construction is 80%complete, would start producing power next year, while the power sales contract for its lignite-fired Hong Sa plant is awaiting Thai cabinet approval.
"This process should be completed within this year and the construction should commence within two years,with power generation beginning in 2015," Mr Thawat said.
President Noppol Milinthanggoon said Ratchaburi's revenue would decrease slightly in the second half due to a planned shutdown for maintenance.
However, he remains certain of seeing 5% revenue growth this year from 42.21 billion baht recorded last year.
The company recorded a revenue drop of 22.1% in the first half of the year to 16.5 billion baht from 21.29 billion last year. Its net profit over the period increased 31.3% to 3.9 billion from 2.97 billion.
The company is also in talks with financial institutions to lower the interest burden for its Ratchaburi Power.
"Details should be disclosed within this year, but the aim is to reduce our interest burden and the refinancing plan will help maximise shareholders' value,"said Mr Noppol.
RATCH shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 37.75 baht, down 75 satang, in total trade of 27.56 million baht.
Thawat Vimolsarawong, senior executive vice-president for business development, said billions of baht in new investment would be spent on additional wind-power project, with further details should be concluded within next year.
"We are currently gathering information on prime locations and discussing possibilities with potential partners. Project capacities would depend on the prevailing wind magnitude in each location," said Mr Thawat.
For each megawatt of wind power,60 million baht in investment is needed.
He said wind power was the most promising renewable power source for Thailand. Other sources do not offer as satisfactory a level of return on investment.
Its 60-megawatt wind farm worth 4.274 billion baht in Khao Kho, Phetchabun, is currently awaiting approval from the Royal Forestry Department to use 1,000 rai of land. Construction is expected to start late this year or early next year as planned.
The project is being developed by Sustainable Energy Corporation (SEC)which is 60% owned by Renewable Energy Co, a local research house for alternative fuel,35% by Ratchaburi and 10% by retail investors.
The Thai power producer also has four ongoing projects in Laos but some are on hold as domestic power demand has been affected by the global slump.
Its Nam Ngum 3 and Xe Pien Xe Nam Noi hydropower projects, which are both undergoing price negotiations with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), could be delayed by one or two years from the original plan to operate by 2013.
The increase in construction costs driven by more expensive crude last year has led the company to propose a new power price to Egat, which is also reassessing domestic demand.
Mr Thawat said the Nam Ngum 2 plant, on which construction is 80%complete, would start producing power next year, while the power sales contract for its lignite-fired Hong Sa plant is awaiting Thai cabinet approval.
"This process should be completed within this year and the construction should commence within two years,with power generation beginning in 2015," Mr Thawat said.
President Noppol Milinthanggoon said Ratchaburi's revenue would decrease slightly in the second half due to a planned shutdown for maintenance.
However, he remains certain of seeing 5% revenue growth this year from 42.21 billion baht recorded last year.
The company recorded a revenue drop of 22.1% in the first half of the year to 16.5 billion baht from 21.29 billion last year. Its net profit over the period increased 31.3% to 3.9 billion from 2.97 billion.
The company is also in talks with financial institutions to lower the interest burden for its Ratchaburi Power.
"Details should be disclosed within this year, but the aim is to reduce our interest burden and the refinancing plan will help maximise shareholders' value,"said Mr Noppol.
RATCH shares closed yesterday on the Stock Exchange of Thailand at 37.75 baht, down 75 satang, in total trade of 27.56 million baht.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
A piece of the action
And the crowd went wild as Steve "President for Life" Jobs of Apple Computer came out on the stage to emcee the now-annual September music sales pitch, with loads of new stuff; in the biggest news, the iPod Nano got a video camera and FM radio, and Steve showed off the new iTunes Ver 9 management software; he also showed off the iPhone OS 3.1, available for download, which actually recommends apps you might like, has better synching for music and video, and lets you save video from email attachments into your playlist, aka Camera Roll.
Apple cut the prices of its old iPod models just hours ahead of announcing new iPod models; the price of the 32-gigabyte iPod Touch was cut $120 to $279, or 9,500 baht in real money; a 120-gig iPod Classic now costs $229, a $20 cut by the generous folks who run Apple. Palm introduced a smaller,cheaper smartphone than the successful Pre; the Pixi, as it's called, is aimed at younger users; it's slimmer, has a smaller screen, but features a Qwerty keyboard,8GB of memory and a two-megapixel camera.
US President Barack Obama, in a controversial school-time speech to most US children, advised them to be careful about what they put on Facebook and other social networks;"Whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," he warned.
First Solar of America signed a contract with the Chinese government to build the world's largest solar power plant in Inner Mongolia; assuming it is built, the Ordos City plant will push out 2,000 megawatts of electricity,around four times the size of the projects being built by the US Army in the Mojave Desert and by First Solar in California;the China project isn't near anything much; Ordos City is a coal-producing,eight-year-old, planned low-carbon development with about 1.5 million residents, roughly 800km west of Beijing.
Networking firm Huawei of China,which has suffered a scandal or two in its Thailand work, was stung to the quick by mean stories in the Australian media that it might be tied to the Chinese espionage services; Guo Fulin, managing director of Huawei in Australia, was hurt by the insensitive stories that his company was under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation; Huawei is a public-owned company, he said, and it is unthinkable that any government agency would be using Huawei to conduct spying.
The government of Cuba took a huge security gamble, and authorised post offices to provide Internet access to the public - just in case the Cuban government ever authorises the public to use the Internet at some point in the future; the only public access currently allowed is to an inside-Cuba intranet for email, provided by post offices at a cost of the equivalent of 55 baht an hour, in a country where the average wage is 680 baht a month.
Japan fired an unmanned cargo craft into orbit; the 16.5-tonne unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is on a mission to re-supply the space station;it will stay up there to continue ferrying stuff to the US shuttle fleet next year.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologised for the way that people treated World War Two code-breaker and extraordinary computer geek Alan Turing for being gay; Turing was prosecuted for homosexual conduct in 1952,and a mere two years later, he committed suicide;"I am pleased to have the chance how deeply sorry I and we all are," said Mr Brown.
Google , which plans to give away grazillions of books in order to get the (commercial) goods on its customers,offered to let all its opponents have a piece of the action;Amazon.com , which wants to sell grazillions of books to make tonnes of money directly, scoffed.Rupert Murdoch, the American media mogul, began collecting money at the tollgate to his news sites, in an interesting experiment to see if people will actually pay for news on the Net.
IBM, Microsoft, Oracle Corp and Google all responded to a plaintive "Help" from the Newspaper Association of America on how to get money from customers who don't want to pay for news; Randy Bennett, who is the senior president for vice in newspapers, said he's looking over 11 different proposals on how to squeeze money out of you;Google, to no one's surprise, offered to put all newspapers behind one vast,semi-expensive firewall, because that would be so convenient for everyone to just pay one company one time, and then Google would spread the money around; sure, that ought to work.
South African technology firm Unlimited IT dispatched Winston, a pigeon,from its office in Pietermaritzburg, with some data for its main hub in Durban strapped to the bird's leg; it took Winston one hour and eight minutes to fly the data card; meanwhile, Unlimited IT tried to send the same data via the speedchallenged Internet connections provided by leading Internet Telkom , and that download was four percent finished by the time Winston arrived; so it's not only countries that start with "T" that have Internet problems.
T-Mobile of Germany and Orange of France merged their yuppiephone operations in Britain, creating a new $13.5 billion company with 28.4 mobile phone customers; the Deutsche Telekom-France Telecom venture will be the biggest provider in the UK, with a 37 percent market share, larger than O2 of Telefonica.
Apple cut the prices of its old iPod models just hours ahead of announcing new iPod models; the price of the 32-gigabyte iPod Touch was cut $120 to $279, or 9,500 baht in real money; a 120-gig iPod Classic now costs $229, a $20 cut by the generous folks who run Apple. Palm introduced a smaller,cheaper smartphone than the successful Pre; the Pixi, as it's called, is aimed at younger users; it's slimmer, has a smaller screen, but features a Qwerty keyboard,8GB of memory and a two-megapixel camera.
US President Barack Obama, in a controversial school-time speech to most US children, advised them to be careful about what they put on Facebook and other social networks;"Whatever you do, it will be pulled up again later somewhere in your life," he warned.
First Solar of America signed a contract with the Chinese government to build the world's largest solar power plant in Inner Mongolia; assuming it is built, the Ordos City plant will push out 2,000 megawatts of electricity,around four times the size of the projects being built by the US Army in the Mojave Desert and by First Solar in California;the China project isn't near anything much; Ordos City is a coal-producing,eight-year-old, planned low-carbon development with about 1.5 million residents, roughly 800km west of Beijing.
Networking firm Huawei of China,which has suffered a scandal or two in its Thailand work, was stung to the quick by mean stories in the Australian media that it might be tied to the Chinese espionage services; Guo Fulin, managing director of Huawei in Australia, was hurt by the insensitive stories that his company was under investigation by the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation; Huawei is a public-owned company, he said, and it is unthinkable that any government agency would be using Huawei to conduct spying.
The government of Cuba took a huge security gamble, and authorised post offices to provide Internet access to the public - just in case the Cuban government ever authorises the public to use the Internet at some point in the future; the only public access currently allowed is to an inside-Cuba intranet for email, provided by post offices at a cost of the equivalent of 55 baht an hour, in a country where the average wage is 680 baht a month.
Japan fired an unmanned cargo craft into orbit; the 16.5-tonne unmanned H-II Transfer Vehicle (HTV) is on a mission to re-supply the space station;it will stay up there to continue ferrying stuff to the US shuttle fleet next year.
Prime Minister Gordon Brown publicly apologised for the way that people treated World War Two code-breaker and extraordinary computer geek Alan Turing for being gay; Turing was prosecuted for homosexual conduct in 1952,and a mere two years later, he committed suicide;"I am pleased to have the chance how deeply sorry I and we all are," said Mr Brown.
Google , which plans to give away grazillions of books in order to get the (commercial) goods on its customers,offered to let all its opponents have a piece of the action;Amazon.com , which wants to sell grazillions of books to make tonnes of money directly, scoffed.Rupert Murdoch, the American media mogul, began collecting money at the tollgate to his news sites, in an interesting experiment to see if people will actually pay for news on the Net.
IBM, Microsoft, Oracle Corp and Google all responded to a plaintive "Help" from the Newspaper Association of America on how to get money from customers who don't want to pay for news; Randy Bennett, who is the senior president for vice in newspapers, said he's looking over 11 different proposals on how to squeeze money out of you;Google, to no one's surprise, offered to put all newspapers behind one vast,semi-expensive firewall, because that would be so convenient for everyone to just pay one company one time, and then Google would spread the money around; sure, that ought to work.
South African technology firm Unlimited IT dispatched Winston, a pigeon,from its office in Pietermaritzburg, with some data for its main hub in Durban strapped to the bird's leg; it took Winston one hour and eight minutes to fly the data card; meanwhile, Unlimited IT tried to send the same data via the speedchallenged Internet connections provided by leading Internet Telkom , and that download was four percent finished by the time Winston arrived; so it's not only countries that start with "T" that have Internet problems.
T-Mobile of Germany and Orange of France merged their yuppiephone operations in Britain, creating a new $13.5 billion company with 28.4 mobile phone customers; the Deutsche Telekom-France Telecom venture will be the biggest provider in the UK, with a 37 percent market share, larger than O2 of Telefonica.
Egat sells off three decommissioned Mae Moh generators
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand has sold three decommissioned generators from its Mae Moh power station for 297 million baht.
Egat sold the 25-year-old generators so it could mine lignite coal located under the units, the assistant director for production at Mae Moh, Polrit Setthakamnerd, said.
The generators were taken out of service between nine and 10 years ago.
Thepprathanporn Construction and Recycle Co of Bangkok bought the three generators for 297 million baht on Sept 9 in an electronic auction. Eight other companies meeting Egat's selection criteria participated in the auction.
Thepprathanporn will remove the plants fromMae Moh compound in 18 months. An Egat source said the com-pany was expected to use the generators at its power plants in Indonesia.
Egat started building the three generators at the Mae Moh lignite mine in 1975. They began generating and distributing electricity in 1978,1979 and 1981, respectively, Mr Polrit said.
The first plant was decommissioned on Oct 1,1999, and the other two followed on March 1,2000.
The three units must be removed by 2011, Mr Polrit said. Mae Moh now has another 10 generating units in operation.
The power station has been at the heart of an environmental controversy for years.
Greenpeace in 2004 said the power station released 1.6 million tonnes of sulphur gas into the air every day, making it the largest source of sulphur dioxide in Thailand.
Egat sold the 25-year-old generators so it could mine lignite coal located under the units, the assistant director for production at Mae Moh, Polrit Setthakamnerd, said.
The generators were taken out of service between nine and 10 years ago.
Thepprathanporn Construction and Recycle Co of Bangkok bought the three generators for 297 million baht on Sept 9 in an electronic auction. Eight other companies meeting Egat's selection criteria participated in the auction.
Thepprathanporn will remove the plants fromMae Moh compound in 18 months. An Egat source said the com-pany was expected to use the generators at its power plants in Indonesia.
Egat started building the three generators at the Mae Moh lignite mine in 1975. They began generating and distributing electricity in 1978,1979 and 1981, respectively, Mr Polrit said.
The first plant was decommissioned on Oct 1,1999, and the other two followed on March 1,2000.
The three units must be removed by 2011, Mr Polrit said. Mae Moh now has another 10 generating units in operation.
The power station has been at the heart of an environmental controversy for years.
Greenpeace in 2004 said the power station released 1.6 million tonnes of sulphur gas into the air every day, making it the largest source of sulphur dioxide in Thailand.
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