Saha Group studies nuclear option
Saha Group chairman Boonsithi Chokwatana stands in front of fashion apparel that is among more than 1,000 of the group’s products to be exhibited at the 10th Saha Group Export and Trade Exhibition from June 30 to July 2 at the Queen Sirikit National Conve
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The Saha Group, the country's largest manufacturing and trading conglomerate, is studying a Bt10-billion nuclear power-plant project, to supply electricity to nearly 200 factories within the group.
Group chairman Boonsithi Chokwatana said yesterday that nuclear power would be the best alternative in the future, in light of rising oil and gas prices in the world market. In the meantime, he said power plant subsidiary Saha Cogen Plc would start construction next year of two biopower plants at its manufacturing complexes in Kabin Buri district of Prachin Buri province and in Lamphun province. Costing Bt600 million to Bt700 million each, the new biopower plants will focus on steam-driven turbines to produce electricity for factories in the two complexes. "The existing power plant at our manufacturing complex in Sri Racha currently requires natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand as its major raw material, but the new plants in Kabin Buri and Lamphun will use tapioca peel and sugar molasses as their key ingredients," he said. He said that with the two new power plants, the group expected to cut its power and electricity costs in half. "We're also studying a nuclear-power project to be constructed at our complex in Sri Racha. The nuclear plant would require an investment of Bt10 billion and produce 200-300 megawatts of electricity for the group's factories in the complex." He said the group was studying nuclear power-plant technology in countries like Japan, China, the US and France and that the project would be completed in about 10 years. However, he said the group needed support from the government, in terms of legal regulations and safety measures related to setting up nuclear plants. "The Thai government should take urgent action in regard to the setting up of nuclear power plants in the Kingdom. It should educate and have a clear understanding with many parties, such as NGOs [non-governmental organisations] and the general public. The public used to consider nuclear power dangerous, but now it's the cleanest, cheapest and safest energy in the world," he said. He said if Thailand had no alternative to conventional power plants, the country would lose competitiveness to countries like the US, France, Japan and China, all of which have their own nuclear power plants and produce electricity at much cheaper cost. Even Vietnam and Indonesia will soon have nuclear power plants. "The price of oil is currently up to US$72 [Bt2,800] per barrel. If we do not seek alternative energy sources, we will die," he said. He said the group would present its ideas and information on the nuclear power-plant project at the 10th Saha Group Export and Trade Exhibition, to be held June 30 to July 2 at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Boonsithi said his group's operating costs had skyrocketed 30 per cent so far this year. "The current key issue in running a business effectively is how to reduce costs as much as possible in the areas of logistics, packaging and raw materials," he said. He said the group had focused on reducing costs, so as to be able to maintain the prices of their products amid the current high-cost environment driven by the continuing increases in the price of oil. "I don't worry about the price of oil, but rather about higher interest rates and the appreciation of the baht, both of which would hit our export performance," he said, adding that political uncertainty was another worrying problem, because it would have a direct impact on foreign investment. Many foreign investors, he said, had shifted their investments to other countries, such as Vietnam, China, Indonesia, Malaysia and India. Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn The Nation
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