CARBON-CREDIT FIRST

       IRPC, a major petrochemical and energy firm, yesterday signed agreements with GE Energy and GE carbon in connection with its investment plan for a 220-megawatt combined heat and power plant worth about US$200 million (Bt6.7 billion) in Rayong province.
       The project will be the country's first carbon-credit trade as far as a largescale power plant is concerned, said IRPC president Pairin Choochotetavorn.
       IRPC's 20-year-old power plant is currently fuelled by bunker oil to generate electricity, causing a great deal of pollution due to the release of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.
       This will be replaced by the new combined heat and power plant, which will use natural gas and generate 420 tonnes of steam per hour.
       Pairin said the 220MW plant, which will be operational in early 2011, will reduce CO2 emission by about 400,000 tonnes per year.
       As a result, the project is qualified to join the global carbon-trading scheme, as it will contribute to a reduction in global warming.
       At present, a tonne of CO2 is traded at around $15. The global credittrading scheme is expected to be operational in the next eight months.
       IRPC signed the del with GE Energy to buy gas turbines and other equipment for the new power plant.
       It also appointed GE Carbon as adviser for the project to sell its carbon credits in the international market as part of the Clean Development Mechanism.
       Given its scale, IRPC's project will contribute to getting on for a half of the reduction in CO2 releases targeted by the Energy Ministry, which aims to cut the Kingdom's emissions by an overall 1 million tonnes per year in the initial stage.
       Satish Kashyap, director of GE Carbon, said a total of 525 projects had been certified worldwide for the sale of carbon credits.
       Thailand currently has only 24 of these projects, while China has proposed more than 600 and India 500. Malaysia has 30 projects and South Korea, 33.
       Pairin said the IRPC facilities were not situated in the pollution-control areas designated by the Central Administrative Court, which recently issed an injunction on 76 industrial projects in Map Ta Phut and other parts of Rayong. However, the company would be affected if PTT were to revise its investment plans in the pollutioncontrol areas, he added.