Sustainable management options for electricty use : a case of Mae Hong Son province

Abstract

This study on Sustainable Management Options for Electricity use: a case study of Mae Hong Son (MHS) province explores appropriate options for electricity management using a system dynamics approach. The current supply side management approach, being used simultaneously by three public utilities ; namely the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), the Provincial Electricity Authority of Thailand (PEA) and the Department of Alternative Energy Developing and Efficiency (DEDE), has show that the continuing with business as usual scenario will cause an electricity shortage in the next 28 months onward. Examining an initial scenario of electricity import expansion from neighboring provinces would only delay the electricity shortage in the MHS province by as many as 4 months. The province would then experience the first electricity shortage in the 32nd month. Under a second scenario, electricity generation expansion using diesel power plants was then explored, and it was found that the first blackout or electricity shortage in this province was shifted from the 32nd month in the previous scenario to the 43rd month. Looking at a third scenario, expansion of electricity generation from hydroelectric dams was also considered to alleviate the electricity shortage, and this expansion showed that MHS would not face an electricity shortage until the 85th month of the study adding 42 months of no blackout periods to the previous scenario. Expansion of electricity generation from a photovoltaic plant in this province under a fourth scenario showed that electricity shortage was shifted from the 85th month to the 95th month. Demand side management of electricity conservation was explored in a fifth scenario, and it was found that in the next 120 months or 10 years, electricity shortages could be completely avoided. Both supply side and demand side management approaches are both crucial to electricity management in MHS province and must be carried out simultaneously over the next 10 years or 120 months.