Hot weather, strong economy to bump electricity demand by 3.1%: EPPO
The Energy Policy and Planning Office is predicting that electricity usage this year will increase by 3.1% due to an improved economy and very hot weather.
Veerapat Kiatfuengfoo, director-general of EPPO under the Energy Ministry, on Monday noted the National Economic and Social Development Council predicted last month that Thailand would see economic growth of 2.2-3.2% this year.
He added that the Meteorological Department has predicted an average 1.2 degrees Celsius rise in temperature compared to last year.
Veerapat said the expected growth and rising temperature would result in more use of energy.
Given these predictions, EPPO now expects that in 2024 the use of fuel oil will rise by 3.1%, natural gas by 2.5%, and coal by 2.4%.
As well, EPPO expects that the demand for electricity will grow by 3.1% this year, said Veerapat.
Last year, the use of overall energy rose 0.8% from the previous year, he said.
Last year also saw the use of electricity rise by 3.4% from the previous year, with 203.923 billion units of power used throughout the year.
