EGCO, Leading power-producer Electricity Generating will invest up to Bt7 billion this year in domestic and overseas energy plants.

EGCO president Vinit Tangnoi yesterday said the company had prepared an investment budget of Bt4 billion to Bt7 billion for this purpose.

The company's three overseas targets are natural-gas and coal-fired power plants, two of which are in Indonesia and the other in the Philippines.

Locally, the company will co-invest in a number of renewable-energy projects, including a Bt9-billion solar-power plant in Lop Buri with a production capacity of 50 megawatts, and a 50MW wind-power plant in Nakhon Ratchasima worth Bt3 billion to Bt4 billion.

Egco also plans to invest in small hydropower plants in Thailand.

Vinit said the company had retained its plan to increase annual production capacity from the current of 4,000MW to 5,000MW. The Nam Theun 2 hydropower plant in Laos, which becomes operational next month, will generate 970MW.

In a separate matter, Pornchai Rujiprapa, permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry, said the ministry was in talks with PTT and the four-party panel to accelerate a resolution of the Map Ta Phut impasse, with a particular focus on freeing up the company's sixth gas-separation plant.

A subcommittee of the four-party panel will consider whether the project is severely detrimental to the environment, and pass its findings to the Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning for further consideration.

If the agency approves PTT's sixth gas-separation plant, the project is expected to commence operations in April.

However, if it is deemed to be severely damaging to the environment, it will have to comply with Article 67 (2) of Constitution and conduct both environmental- and health-impact assessments, besides organising a public hearing. The whole process would take between six and eight months.

Pornchai said the Energy Ministry had prepared contingency measures to avoid a shortage of liquefied petroleum gas, should the gas-separation plant not come on-stream as planned.

Meanwhile, Pornchai said the Office of the Attorney-General was considering a request by Siam Energy, the owner of a planned power-plant project in Chachoengsao's Bang Khla district, to relocate the plant and extend the period for conducting an environmental-impact assessment after people in the surrounding communities expressed serious opposition to the facility.