Asia power market heats up

Asia power market heats up

Competition is heating up for power producers and service providers as they seek to capture growing opportunities in Asia while business is slowing down in other parts of the world.

Soonchai Kumnoonsate, governor of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), said the economic slowdown in the US and mature markets in Europe have pushed the Asian market into the spotlight.

China, India and Southeast Asia are leaders in this region, where demand has grown strongly in recent years and with the momentum continuing over the next two decades, he said.

Some emerging economies such as Myanmar, Vietnam, Indonesia and India need greater access to new power facilities, while countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand, which have full access to electricity, are shifting to renewable energy and efficient use.

"These countries will provide big opportunities for the power business in the next two decades," Mr Soonchai told the Power-Gen Asia 2013 forum yesterday.

Boosting competition among power producers in turn leads to better quality and cost competitiveness in services and products for consumers, he said.

Egat, meanwhile, is in the process of choosing new clean coal technologies to be used in revamping its six retiring power generating units at the Mae Moh power plant at a cost of 30 billion baht.

The new technology will emit less greenhouse gases and consume 10% less coal than the existing technology.

Among those putting more focus on Asia is Germany's Siemens AG, which is introducing a new series of power generators with energy efficiency of 60%.

Meanwhile, Japan's Toshiba is returning to the power generation business in Asia after focusing on North and South America for many decades.

It opened a representative office in Thailand in the middle of this year to explore regional business opportunities.

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