The state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) signed a pact with China Southern Power Grid to buy electricity from southern China, Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

EGAT governor Suthat Patmasiriwat told journalists today that EGAT signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with China Southern Power Grid Co last week, under which both sides form a joint committee to study trade, costs and power transmission lines set to stretch from Yunnan province in southern China to Thailand.

Suthat said that electricity purchase from China Southern Power Grid is highly possible, as it has excessive electricity from a hydroelectric power plant in Yunnan, and that the purchase of hydroelectricity will support stable energy prices and security in Thailand.

According to the EGAT governor, the Thai and Chinese governments had earlier signed an MOU on electricity trade on Nov 12, 1998, under which both sides agreed with the trade of 3,000 megawatts of electricity with the purchase to be realised by 2017 and that China would propose its power producers for Thailand.

Suthat said that Thai and Chinese authorities are also discussing financial returns for Laos, as transmission lines will stretch from southern China to Thailand through Laos.

- Bernama