Contributed by Mr Meesak Tanvichian, Power Infrastructure Dept, SCTL

July 2021

Phuket Island, Thailand

The completion of a new electrical substation accelerates economic development in Phuket Island, Thailand, by supplying electricity to boost up its business activities. Over the centuries, with its vast resort, recreation and entertainment facilities, Phuket has become one of the most developed tourist centres in the country. Tourism revenues alone accounted for 90% of the island’s total income.

The consortium consisting of Sumitomo Corporation, Black & Veatch Thailand Limited and Italian-Thai Development PCL won a contract to build Phuket 3 new substation in 2018. The work was part of a series of electrical power system substation and transmission projects being rolled out by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). EGAT signed an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract with the consortium on 28 February 2018 for the delivery of the Phuket 3 substation.

The substation is connected through grid transmission network as one important node of Thailand’s Southern region to make power delivery countrywide more stable. Attention to schedule and maintaining excellent coordination with EGAT, the teams have played a major part in defining our success at Phuket 3 substation even during the Covid-19 pandemic, which posed potential schedule slippages to the project. Despite the challenges, we have executed the project safely and delivered the advanced power transmission solutions that also feature designs to enable remote operation and maintenance, which are vital in the future as grid demands evolve.

The consortium has successfully achieved the last major milestone for AC (Alternating Current) withstand test at EGAT Phuket 3 substation of both 230kV and 500kV systems on 22 July 2021. Currently both 230kV and 500kV systems are under EGAT’s commercial operation.

Substation 500kV Building

Gas Insulated Busbar Route Line and Substation Switch Yard 500kV and 230kV