The lower South of Thailand has a tendency of economic and industrial expansion continuously together with a relatively high investment which results in a rising demand for electricity. As EGAT is responsible for the acquisition and generation of electricity to meet the demand of the country, new power plants are necessary to increase the generating capacity. Chana Power Plant has been included in the Power Development Plan (2004-2015) to enhance the security of the power system of the South.

The cabinet approved the construction of Chana Power Plant, Block 1, a multi-shaft combined cycle power plant on June 7, 2005. The plant began supplying electricity on July 15, 2008 on a commercial basis. Later, Chana Power Plant, Block 2 was approved by the cabinet on February 22, 2011. It is the first natural gas power plant of the country using single-shaft combined cycle technology of which has high efficiency of combustion, saving the amount of fuel for electricity generation and is environmentally friendly. The power plant started commercial operation on July 15, 2014 using natural gas from the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area (JDA-A18) in the Thai Gulf for power generation.

“Chana Power Plant” is regarded as the model plant which EGAT has employed community participation process prior to the project construction, during construction, and project implementation. Opinions and concerns of the community around the project site have been collected and considered for the design of the power plant including environmental protection system. Air and water quality have been checked and monitored continuously. For air quality, Continuous Emission Monitoring System (CEMS) is installed at each stack of the power plant whereas Air Quality Monitoring Station is installed at the power plant near Ban Khuan Hua Chang and Ban Pa Ching. For water quality, the power plant has the wastewater treatment system and wastewater quality monitoring station before the water is discharged into the public water sources. In addition, Electricity Development Fund has been set up by the Committee of Community Development around the power plant comprising representatives from the community, advisors, and government agencies. Representatives will propose development projects and manage the projects among themselves. Outstanding and strong occupations have been promoted and developed such as the Blue Crab Bank at Khlong Na Tub, the first Crab Bank of Chana District. Therefore, Chana Power Plant can be together with the community nearby in harmony and with sustainability.

Presently, Chana Power Plant has the contracted generating capacity of 1,476 MW comprising

• Block 1 with generating capacity of 710 MW
• Block 2 with generating capacity of 766 MW