Announcement of Forty-Six Million Five Hundred Thousand US Dollars Loan for Electric Power Development in Thailand on January 14, 1970

INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR .RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT 1818 H STREET, !'.J.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Dank Press Release No. 70/3 Subject: --$46.5 million loan for electric Jdnuary 14, 1970 power development in Thailand Elect.ric power generating capacity in Thailand will be increased by 560 // rnE:~awatts with theF assistance of a'1 $46.5 million World Bank loan announced today. The new installations form part of a continuing expansion program beit1g carri,ed out t(t meet Thailand I s unusually high demand for electricity 'Wf:ich has been growing at a rate of 301 annually in recent years. This wil 1 be the -Bank's fifth loan for elect:idic power in Thaila~,\d. • :Sarli.er loans totaling $83.3 million partly financed 280 MW of generating capacity and over 500 miles of high-voltage transmission lines~ The new loan will be made to the Electricity Generating Authority of Th~iland (EGAT) which was created in May 1969 through the merger of three po~er entities to form one authority for the generation and transmission of el~~tric power throughout the country. The loan will be for a ter.m of 20 years, including five years of grace, and will bear interest of 7%. It will !>e guaranteed by the Kingdom of Thailand. The National Bank of Conmerce of Seattle, Security Pacific National J.;~nk, Los Angeles, f~d Banque de l'Indochine, '•--\ Paris, are participating in the loan for.a total amount of $225,000. Increase in power demand in Thailand has ave~e}ged over~' 271 a year since 1961. The availability of electric power, combined with the Government's encouragement cf local and foreign investment, and tourism, have stimulated the growth of • thf-.. economy and produced a rising standard of living. These devt~lopments l.Pve in turn led to greater demands for electricity from commercial and /more  Bank P~R. No. '·70/3 - Thailand-Electric Power industrial consumers. annually over the next six years. - 2 - The rate of growth is expected to average about 18% In order to meet this demand, EGA.T plans • to add about 1,500 MW to the system between now and 1976, bringing total cap,aci ty to 2 ,400 MW. The project being assisted by the Bank loan consists of the installa- 1:,ion of a third unit (310 MW) at the South Bangkok Thermal Station with the necessary auxiliary equipment and controls, and the construction of a power plant at the Siriki t Dam on the Nan River in northern Thailand~ which is ~e'ing °8t1ilt with_ the help of an earlier Bank loan. The hydroelectric __ pJ_Rnt. will initially contain two 125-MW hydrau1_:5 ,. .__ fa.,.,-1},3 na genera.tor·~..-: ·-·-· r101'.'1;n~ ie.• ··- ·· · uni ts, a switching station with associated controls and' related civil works. Also included in the project is the construction of a 230-kilovolt double- circuit transmission line from the Sirikit Dam to a major switching station near Nakorn Sawan, 215 miles to the south, and engineering services. • EGAT will execute the project with the assistance of consultants. The total cost of the project will be equivalent to $92.4 million, in- cluding $53.7 million in foreign exchange. The Bank loan will cover $46.5 million of the foreign exchange costs. The remaining finance will come \\ from EGA.T's internal cash generation, loans from the Thai Government and other borrowings·,. - 0 - •