The BLCP project involves the construction of a 1,434 MW coal-fired
power plant (717 MW x 2) in Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, Rayong
province, Thailand. The power produced will be sold to the Electricity
Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT) under a 25-year power purchase
agreement. BLCP Power is an Independent Power Producer (IPP) jointly
owned by the Thai company Banpu Power Limited and the HK-headquartered
CLP Power Asia Limited, 50 percent each.
When completed, the BLCP Coal Plant will be one of the largest coal-fired power generation facilities in Thailand. The plant will be fuelled with imported bituminous coal wholly from Australia through an exclusive supply contract with the Australian company Rio Tinto.
The construction of the coal plant commenced in August 2003. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), jointly with Mitsubishi Corporation, was awarded construction contracts by BLCP Power. The construction area is on reclaimed land three kilometers from the coastline and four kilometers from major residential and institutional areas. BLCP expects the first unit to come on line in October 2006, and the second in February 2007. Supported by Greenpeace in Southeast Asia, villagers from communities suffering from the impacts of coal and climate change continue to oppose to the project.
Financing
The $1.37 billion project has received financing from various sources including;
Of all fossil fuels, coal is the dirtiest, emitting the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) per unit of energy into the atmosphere. CO2 represents the major portion of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere is responsible for global warming and dangerous climate change impacts including the increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as drought and storms, rising sea levels, melting polar ice caps, the spread of diseases such as malaria borne by insects that thrive in warmer temperatures, flooding, salinization of fresh water systems and massive coral bleaching. According to the foremost global authority on the issue, the IPCC, to be hit hardest by climate change are coastal countries, island nations, and developing regions such as Southeast Asia.
The BLCP project is expected to emit 229.4 million tons of CO2 emissions over the next 20 years, contributing significantly to global warming.
Immediate impacts
Coal plants also produce toxic substances such as the neurotoxin mercury, and gases such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide both of which can create acid rain as well as respiratory problems for residents in nearby communities. Since the establishment of the industrial estate the nearby communities have reportedly been suffering from toxic air pollution in the Industrial Estate. The pollution has been so bad that a local school had to be relocated while some community members have been hospitalized. There are concerns about the effects of an additional polluting power plant of the size that BLCP is constructing.
A recent study on fly ash samples taken from the neighboring 108-MW Thai Petrochemical Industry (TPI) coal-fired power plant, which uses the same bituminous coal as BLCP, determined that the fly ash samples contained several toxic elements especially arsenic and mercury. To reduce the quantities of these elements in the fly ashes would simply result in the production of additional contaminated waste streams.
Public concern
At least eight local communities are currently facing problems resulting from land reclamation as part of the plant construction including coastal erosion through changes in currents, sediments leached from construction contaminating the water, and the adverse impacts on fishing which is severely affecting the livelihoods of local communities. Several large rocks are also being placed on nearby beaches to prevent further coastal erosion; these have obscured the once beautiful beaches and as a result the local tourism industry has been largely affected.
Upon knowing about the proposed coal-fired power plant, the communities gathered to protest against the project several times. The protests include letter-writing, petitions to the Government, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), the Law Association Council and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). These efforts, however, have been progressively worn down by a concerted public relation effort by the project proponents which focused on downplaying or hiding key risks associated with coal burning, such as CO2 releases, climate change impacts and the release of hazardous substances such as mercury. BLCP officials have admitted their lack of awareness of these issues and the fact that they have intentionally withheld discussion on these issues in their engagement with the potential host communities.
The BLCP has resorted to individual visits to community members opposed to the plant armed with promises of funding to assist the community and particularly children. Similar to the experience of other communities that were forced to host coal plants, the company's PR efforts have instead caused social disintegration and many conflicts within the communities.
Instead of conducting public hearings, the project owners have opted to conduct limited tripartite committee meetings, where substantive information regarding the impacts of the project were withheld, according to community leaders. In addition, much of the information provided was biased towards BLCP. This process contradicts with JBIC environmental guidelines which require sufficient consultations with stakeholders, such as local residents, with the outcome of these consultations incorporated into the project plan. This means project owners must ensure that local residents have enough relevant information before such consultations take place. NHRC is now undertaking investigations on this issue.
Recently, local residents have filed a lawsuit with the Law Association Council against the project proponents regarding additional land reclamation in relation to the electricity line transmission for the BLCP project. The case is currently under investigation.
Alternatives to BLCP
Instead of investing in dirty fossil fuel energy, the proponent companies, the Thai Government, Export Credit Agencies (ECA), and International Financial Institutions (IFI) should seriously look at funding clean renewable energy projects especially. Thailand has enormous potential for renewable energy. Data from Thai Ministry of Energy suggests that Thailand has more than 14000-MW renewable energy potential: 7000-MW from modern biomass, more than 5000-MW from solar PV, 1600-MW from Wind, and 700-MW powered by small hydro.
A study by the International Institute for Energy Conservation shows that Thailand's potential for running a Demand-Side Management (DSM) Program can be as high as 2,000-3,000 MW27. With this program alone, BLCP is not needed.
Download the full report, "All Emission, No Solution"
When completed, the BLCP Coal Plant will be one of the largest coal-fired power generation facilities in Thailand. The plant will be fuelled with imported bituminous coal wholly from Australia through an exclusive supply contract with the Australian company Rio Tinto.
The construction of the coal plant commenced in August 2003. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI), jointly with Mitsubishi Corporation, was awarded construction contracts by BLCP Power. The construction area is on reclaimed land three kilometers from the coastline and four kilometers from major residential and institutional areas. BLCP expects the first unit to come on line in October 2006, and the second in February 2007. Supported by Greenpeace in Southeast Asia, villagers from communities suffering from the impacts of coal and climate change continue to oppose to the project.
Financing
The $1.37 billion project has received financing from various sources including;
- Up to $140 million from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and a political risk guarantee of up to $70 million for co-financing with a number of overseas commercial banks, and
- $620 million from twelve Thai commercial banks in local currency.
- $245 million direct loan from Japan Bank for International
Cooperation (JBIC) co-financing with private banks. Nippon Export and
Import Insurance (NEXI) provided $163 insurance for the portion
financed by private banks.
Of all fossil fuels, coal is the dirtiest, emitting the highest carbon dioxide (CO2) per unit of energy into the atmosphere. CO2 represents the major portion of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gas accumulation in the atmosphere is responsible for global warming and dangerous climate change impacts including the increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events such as drought and storms, rising sea levels, melting polar ice caps, the spread of diseases such as malaria borne by insects that thrive in warmer temperatures, flooding, salinization of fresh water systems and massive coral bleaching. According to the foremost global authority on the issue, the IPCC, to be hit hardest by climate change are coastal countries, island nations, and developing regions such as Southeast Asia.
The BLCP project is expected to emit 229.4 million tons of CO2 emissions over the next 20 years, contributing significantly to global warming.
Immediate impacts
Coal plants also produce toxic substances such as the neurotoxin mercury, and gases such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide both of which can create acid rain as well as respiratory problems for residents in nearby communities. Since the establishment of the industrial estate the nearby communities have reportedly been suffering from toxic air pollution in the Industrial Estate. The pollution has been so bad that a local school had to be relocated while some community members have been hospitalized. There are concerns about the effects of an additional polluting power plant of the size that BLCP is constructing.
A recent study on fly ash samples taken from the neighboring 108-MW Thai Petrochemical Industry (TPI) coal-fired power plant, which uses the same bituminous coal as BLCP, determined that the fly ash samples contained several toxic elements especially arsenic and mercury. To reduce the quantities of these elements in the fly ashes would simply result in the production of additional contaminated waste streams.
Public concern
At least eight local communities are currently facing problems resulting from land reclamation as part of the plant construction including coastal erosion through changes in currents, sediments leached from construction contaminating the water, and the adverse impacts on fishing which is severely affecting the livelihoods of local communities. Several large rocks are also being placed on nearby beaches to prevent further coastal erosion; these have obscured the once beautiful beaches and as a result the local tourism industry has been largely affected.
Upon knowing about the proposed coal-fired power plant, the communities gathered to protest against the project several times. The protests include letter-writing, petitions to the Government, the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand (IEAT), the Law Association Council and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). These efforts, however, have been progressively worn down by a concerted public relation effort by the project proponents which focused on downplaying or hiding key risks associated with coal burning, such as CO2 releases, climate change impacts and the release of hazardous substances such as mercury. BLCP officials have admitted their lack of awareness of these issues and the fact that they have intentionally withheld discussion on these issues in their engagement with the potential host communities.
The BLCP has resorted to individual visits to community members opposed to the plant armed with promises of funding to assist the community and particularly children. Similar to the experience of other communities that were forced to host coal plants, the company's PR efforts have instead caused social disintegration and many conflicts within the communities.
Instead of conducting public hearings, the project owners have opted to conduct limited tripartite committee meetings, where substantive information regarding the impacts of the project were withheld, according to community leaders. In addition, much of the information provided was biased towards BLCP. This process contradicts with JBIC environmental guidelines which require sufficient consultations with stakeholders, such as local residents, with the outcome of these consultations incorporated into the project plan. This means project owners must ensure that local residents have enough relevant information before such consultations take place. NHRC is now undertaking investigations on this issue.
Recently, local residents have filed a lawsuit with the Law Association Council against the project proponents regarding additional land reclamation in relation to the electricity line transmission for the BLCP project. The case is currently under investigation.
Alternatives to BLCP
Instead of investing in dirty fossil fuel energy, the proponent companies, the Thai Government, Export Credit Agencies (ECA), and International Financial Institutions (IFI) should seriously look at funding clean renewable energy projects especially. Thailand has enormous potential for renewable energy. Data from Thai Ministry of Energy suggests that Thailand has more than 14000-MW renewable energy potential: 7000-MW from modern biomass, more than 5000-MW from solar PV, 1600-MW from Wind, and 700-MW powered by small hydro.
A study by the International Institute for Energy Conservation shows that Thailand's potential for running a Demand-Side Management (DSM) Program can be as high as 2,000-3,000 MW27. With this program alone, BLCP is not needed.
Download the full report, "All Emission, No Solution"
Star Power for Clean Power
JayR
Despite his insane schedule, JayR still found time to support the Greenpeace campaign for clean energy. In a 15-second video he recorded for the international environmental group, JayR called on his fans to support Greenpeace and clean energy.
