Electricity prices in a competitive market: a preliminary analysis of the deregulated Thai electricity industry

The electricity industry throughout the world is currently undergoing a significant transition towards restructuring and deregulation. Following this new legislation, Thailand has initiated an institutional and structural reform with a belief that this could be the best way forward for the Thai electricity supply industry (ESI) to improve efficiency, lower electricity prices, and tackle financial debts. This paper presents an analysis of the extent to which prices for generation services in a competitive market may differ from regulated electricity prices, if competitive prices are based on marginal costs and regulated prices are based on average costs, by using Thailand as a case study.     

Implications of on-site distributed generation for commercial/industrial facilities

Next-generation distributed generation (DG) is poised to become a key element in our energy future. Recognizing the increased need for a higher reliability energy system and a cleaner environment, This work presents a technique that helps to identify the impact of grid-connected DG on the reliability of on-site electric power. This analysis shows the optimal DG mix at various facility outage costs with and without an emission restriction. The impact of varying the grid reliability and the capital costs of DG units on the decision to invest in backup power is discussed. The break-even costs of microturbines are also estimated at various facility outage costs and microturbine forced outage levels.     

The telecommunication infrastructure: A model for optimum voice-data coverage

Since voice and data services can greatly enhance the quality of life of people in rural areas, the expansion of the telecommunication infrastructure is one of the most important planning activities for governments especially in developing nations. This study presents an analytical tool for policy makers to evaluate various alternatives that expand telephone and Internet services to underserved and unserved remote areas. Based on Geographic Information System (GIS) datasets of existing infrastructures, a computer model is developed to generate Telecom-and-Internet access maps of a defined region. The map presents the least-cost plan to provide telephony and Internet services to a given percentage of population in a specified area. A remote area of Bangladesh is selected as a case study. Several scenarios are simulated in order to explore the possibility of extending the reach of telecommunication services to the last-mile customers, and to evaluate pilot projects as building blocks of a nationwide infrastructure.