THE Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has announced that a new power plant for Phuket will be completed by the end of next year.

There are two sub-stations currently in Phuket, both of which are linked to receive power from a power plant in Phang Nga. They can then distribute 115 Kilovolts, which according to Sema Sophon, the director of Transmission System Planning and Project Division is not enough.

?The need for electricity is higher as the population increases on Phuket. EGAT
is planning to establish a second big power plant in Phang Nga and a third plant
for Phuket with a 230 and 115 Kilovolt output. This is believed to be sufficient for
the current demands and can maintain the distribution evenly to solve the blackout
problems.?

The third Phuket power plant will be located on Ban Nanai, Tambon Kohkaew with a budget of 300 million baht being allowed for the construction. Phuket power plant 3 is one
of the 17 Power Transmission Development Projects of Thailand (2007-2010), which was approved some years ago.