Policymakers to decide Krabi plant fate
Energy policymakers will make a final decision on Feb 17 about whether the government will proceed with a plan to build a coal-fired power plant in the southern city of Krabi, says the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. Egat governor Kornrasit Pakchotanon said the National Energy Policy Council will consider the issue at a meeting to be chaired by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha. The project has been strongly opposed for nearly two years by environmental activists and villagers. The coal-fired power plant is worth 49.5 billion baht and had opened for construction bidding last October. The Consortium of Power Construction Corporation of China and Italian-Thai Development of Thailand were tentative winners for the bid at that time, before the project faced a new delay. The construction of the 800-megawatt power plant in Krabi has been postponed since 2015, when environmental activists staged protests that finally forced the government to postpone the project in order to listen to the opinions of nearly communities.
