Thailand’s state power company EGAT has taken the next step in its smart grid development with new centres to enhance the stability of the power system and support clean energy development.
The two new centres are a Renewable Energy Forecast Centre and a Demand Response Control Centre, both situated within EGAT’s headquarters in Nonthaburi, close to Bangkok.
They also are intended as prototypes for regional centres at the five regional grid control centres, while a further eleven renewable energy forecast centres are being planned at EGAT substations in areas with potential for renewable energy development.
“The centres will support the additional 8,000MW renewable energy integrated into the generation mix as well as renewable energy power plants of very small power producers, which may impact the control and stability of the country’s power system,” commented Kitti Petchsantad, Deputy Governor – Transmission System at EGAT.
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The implementation of the centres forms two key pillars of Thailand’s smart grid development in the period 2022-2031.
The Renewable Energy Forecast Centre is directed at predicting electricity generation from renewable and clean energy, including wind and solar energy operated by small power producers.
The forecasts are then incorporated with the plan for electricity generation of other fuel-based power plants to ensure that the power system can handle fluctuations and uncertainties of electricity generated from renewable energy.
The Demand Response Control Centre serves as the control centre for reducing electricity consumption via a load aggregator, which manages the demand response of large power users.
Currently, the Centre is being operated in the pilot phase with a reduced load of 50MW and with the Metropolitan Electricity Authority and the Provincial Electricity Authority serving as the load aggregators.
In the future when the load aggregator role is open to private agencies, the new energy business will emerge with all aggregators operating under the Centre.
In other activities in Thailand, EGAT has opened in Mae Hong Son Province, where a smart grid pilot is underway, a new public centre to enable locals and visitors to learn more about the energy system and smart grids.
The pilot has included the implementation of a grid-connected solar PV and battery energy storage system among other technologies.
