Thailand to help transmit electricity from Laos to Malaysia

BANGKOK: Thailand will sign a tripartite electricity-trading agreement with Laos and Malaysia, engaging in transmission process, Vietnam News Agency (VNA) reports.
Permanent Secretary of the Thai Energy Ministry Areepong Bhoocha-Oom was quoted as saying that the agreement was scheduled to be inked at the Asean Energy Ministers' Meeting in Manila, the Philippines, on Sept 17-22.
Under the agreement, Laos will sell electricity to Malaysia, using Thailand's transmission system, with the volume of up to 100MW.
The agreement will pave the way for the materialisation of an Asean power grid, which was first floated at an informal Asean summit in late 1997, he said.
He said he hoped that the power-grid integration among Thailand, Malaysia and Laos, would encourage other Asean nations to move in the same direction.
According to him, there was a possibility of Thailand becoming an electricity-transmission hub in the region, because China has invested in many hydroelectric dams in Laos and Cambodia and has proposed that Thailand provide transmission services.