The Lower South of Thailand has a tendency of economic and industrial expansion continuously together with a relative 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 security of the power system of the South.

The cabinet approved the construction of Chana Power Plant Block 1, a multi-shaft combined cycle on June 7, 2005. The plant has supplied electricity on July 15, 2008 on 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 combined cycle technology of single-shaft which has high efficiency of combustion, saving the amount of fuel for electricity generation and is environmental friendly. The power plant started commercial operation on July 15, 2014 using natural gas from the Malaysia -Thailand Joint Development Area (JDA 18) in the Thai Gulf for power generation.

 “Chana Power Plant” is regarded as the model plant which EGAT has employed community participation process to conduct prior to the project construction, during construction and project implementation. Opinions and concerns of community around the project site have been collected and considered the design of the power plant including environmental protection system. Air and water quality has been checked and monitored all the time. 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 Hua Chang and Ban Pa Ching. For water quality, the power plant has the wastewater treatment system and wastewater quality monitoring station before discharging into public water sources. In addition, Electricity Development Fund has been set up by Committee of Community Development around the power plant comprising representatives from 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 community nearby in harmony and with sustainability.

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

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