EGAT has signed a deal for the South Bangkok Power Plant Replacement Phase 1 project, which will replace existing decommissioned and emergency turbines and other equipment at the plant near Thailand’s capital.
The award went to a consortium made up of Siemens and Marubeni Corporation, and the contract value is 18,405 million baht ($525 million). The project will start its commercial operation in 2019, and will replace the South Bangkok power plant gas turbine units 1-5. Units 1-3 were decommissioned in July 2008, while units 4-5 are on emergency standby duty and will be decommissioned in 2018.
EGAT said the power plant would “use high-efficient technology that requires less fuel but gets rid of more pollutants, which is friendly to the environment,” adding that it would meet growing demand for power in Bangkok.
The project is a combined cycle with simple cycle plant using natural gas and diesel as primary and secondary fuel respectively. Its total capacity is 1,230 MW, and it is located in the same site as the existing South Bangkok Power Plant in Samut Prakan Province.
The South Bangkok project was originally a thermal power plant fueled with fuel oil. Later when natural gas was discovered in the Gulf of Thailand, the modifications were made for the power plant to be combined cycle using natural gas instead of fuel oil. Nowadays South Bangkok power plant consists of 3 combined cycle generating bloc.