ASEAN expected to integrate power grids by 2020

BANGKOK, January 26 (TNA) - A Thai energy expert has foreseen that 10 member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), including Thailand, will integrate their electricity grids by 2020 for the sake of regional power security. The Thai expert of the Senate committee on energy, Kraisi Kannasutr, who is also former governor of the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), said in a seminar on the ASEAN Power Grid held in Bangkok on Wednesday that the ASEAN power integration will develop regional power security and promote the use of plentiful sources of energy in several ASEAN member countries, namely Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, Malaysia and Indonesia. Kraisi noted that the regional power integration will also help reduce imports of fuel from suppliers outside the 10-nation bloc; while maximizing the commercial use of electricity in the region. According to the expert, studies have shown that 16 ASEAN power grid projects are worthwhile, as they will cut regional power expenses by as much as 1.87 billion US dollars and will reduce costs of electricity generation, regional investment funds on power development projects and even power reserves. The former EGAT governor acknowledged that the ASEAN power integration is unlikely to be achieved as fast as that of the European Union (EU) due to a disparity in the development of power grids among member countries, but ASEAN members plan to complete their regional power integration by 2020. (TNA)