Regional energy action plan ready for Mandalay meeting

ASEAN

A controversial energy plan for Southeast Asia covering nuclear power plants and "clean coal" promotion will be tabled for endorsement by energy ministers meeting in Mandalay this week.

Energy Minister Wannarat Channukul said yesterday Bangkok, as current chairman of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, had finished the drafting of the Asean Plan of Action for Energy Cooperation 2010-2015, to be proposed at the 27th Asean Energy Ministers Meeting tomorrow and Thursday.

The draft energy plan covers cooperation among Asean countries in seven fields, including the installation of an Asean power grid and a trans-Asean gas pipeline, promotion of clean coal technology and renewable energy, and cooperation in nuclear power development.

The Thai delegation, led by Mr Wannarat, will also hold bilateral meetings with its counterparts, including Burma, to discuss investment opportunities in the energy sector. Giant petroleum and electricity firms PTT Plc and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand will be represented at the meeting.

An Energy Ministry source with the Thai delegation said they would also discuss the progress of Hut Gyi and Ta Sang hydropower dams with Burma.

The dams, to be built on the Salween - the last free-flowing river in Southeast Asia, have drawn fierce protest from human rights and environmental activists who say the projects would lead to human rights violations in Burma and destroy one of the region's most abundant rivers.

Independent energy analyst Supakit Nuntaworakarn, who works for the Healthy Public Policy Foundation, said Asean's draft energy plan needed to be overhauled as it consisted of too many problematic projects.

The Asean power grid was only created to justify the building of new power plants in the region, while the promotion of gas and coal, both fossil fuels, would only worsen global warming, Mr Supakit said.

"The nuclear technology development, meanwhile, should be eliminated from the plan as there are so many unanswered questions about the dangers and negative impacts of nuclear power plants around the world," he said.