Thailand power plant approval was unjust, claims academic

Thailand power plant approval was unjust, claims academic

An academic claims that the Environmental and Health Impact Assessments
(EHIA) approval for the Thepa coal-fired power plant was unjust, because
local people did not have a chance to present to the expert committee before
a final decision was made, and because the report was inconclusive.

The project owner, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, says
the approval was a big relief because it will be able to solve the power
shortage in the South caused by the long delay in establishing the Krabi
coal-fired power plant.

An expert committee of the Natural Resources and Environ-mental Policy and
Planning Office last Thursday approved the EHIA's support for the
2,200-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Songkhlas Thepa District.

But Somporn Chuai-Aree, a science and technology lecturer at Songkla
University said the EHIA was flawed and should have been rejected. He also
claimed the expert committee should be reformed, as its approval of the EHIA
report was unjust.

"First of all, the whole project of the Thepa coal-fired power plant has
been split in two - the coal-fired power plant and the coal transporting
pier - but it should have been studied as one big project.

"This separation makes it harder for people to see the bigger picture
regarding the environmental impact of the project," Somporn said.

He also claimed the original report had been inconclusive.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/regional/2017/08/21/thailand-power-plant-appr
oval-was-unjust-claims-academic/

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com