Authorities on the Thai tourist island of Koh Samui are resolving frequent power outages attributed to old transmission lines by using diesel-fuelled generators to produce additional electricity.
The effort is a short-term solution before new transmission lines are completely installed by 2028, said Prasert Sinsukpraert, permanent secretary to the Ministry of Energy.
He said he experienced a blackout at a hotel during his visit to the island to inspect the outages and meet local officials to discuss the problem.
Authorities agreed to deal with the outages by using mobile generators, with power generation capacity of 10 megawatts, said Mr Prasert. This capacity should be sufficient to ensure stable electricity supply until the new transmission lines are installed.
Koh Samui, with a permanent resident population of around 50,000, welcomed about 2.7 million Thai and foreign tourists in 2024.
The transmission system development is divided into two phases, with the first-phase installation scheduled to be completed in 2028. The second phase is set to be finished in 2029.
The 11.2-billion-baht project, which includes installing underwater cables, will start in the second half of this year, Mr Prasert said.
A transmission line with a carrying capacity of 230 kilovolts will connect Samui to a substation in Khanom district of Nakhon Si Thammarat, a distance of 48 kilometres.
“The power supply failure must be solved in the short term first,” said Mr Prasert.
“We also plan to talk with hotel and resort operators to adopt additional measures to better manage power supply and demand, including the use of rooftop solar panels and energy-saving appliances.”
Outages on Koh Samui usually occur during the high tourist season between April and May when electricity demand peaks.
The greater number of tourists and business expansion on the island have led to more demand for electricity, but supply is limited.
The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) previously planned to install new underwater power cables, but the development stalled because of a dispute with construction companies, according to an energy ministry official who requested anonymity.