National Power Supply Co, the power generation arm of Double A Power Co, has been ordered by policymakers to shift from coal to natural gas to generate electricity at NPS's long-delayed power plant.
Officials want to lower the country's power generation from coal and lignite out of environmental concerns.
NPS won an auction to develop a coal-fired power plant in 2007 and planned to sell the electricity to the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat).
The previous time frame was for commencing operations in 2013 and 2014, but development has been postponed.
Energy Minister Siri Jirapongphun said the Energy Regulatory Commission has been assigned to talk with NPS about speeding up progress at the plant.
"This power plant will be part of the mainstream power supply because it is in Prachin Buri, adjacent to the Eastern Economic Corridor, with a high density of manufacturing facilities," Mr Siri said. "Shifting to natural gas will have no impact on power tariffs in the long run because the development cost of coal-fired power plants is higher than for gas-fired power generation."
Egat was ordered to revise the power purchase agreement with NPS and reset the operation dates to 2036 and 2037.
Separately, Mr Siri said policymakers will soon decide on a revised import volume for liquefied natural gas (LNG) after the Energy Policy Administration Committee sent back a plan for Egat to import 1.5 million tonnes for power generation.
He said LNG imports could risk oversupply under the plan as drafted.
