ekong Institute, in collaboration with the China Southern Power Grid Co., Ltd. (CSG)/Yunnan Power Grid Co., Ltd. (YNPG), organized a workshop on “GMS Power Grid Operation Standard and Code” on July 14-15, 2016 at the Mekong Institute Annex, Khon Kaen, Thailand. The workshop was conducted under the project called “Capacity Building on GMS Power Grid Interconnection” being co-implemented by CSG.
It is apparent that the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) is continuing to advance in terms of regional economic integration. With this progress, came along the need for a regional power grid interconnection. This has become a trend to effectively facilitate the optimal allocation of regional energy resources and improve the utilization of energy in the GMS. Aiming to contribute to this development, MI held the workshop with 32 participants coming from various GMS power authorities/utilities and other research institutions, to share their own perspectives on GMS power grid operation standard and code. They also discussed ideas on cross-border power interconnection with neighboring countries.
During the opening ceremony, Mr. Wang Wen, Vice President of YNPG remarked that this is the first activity of this year cooperative project with MI. We had a very good cooperative project including training and exchanging needs assessment, training and workshop last year which got a high appraisal from our GMS counterparts. He also stated that CSG joins hand with MI to develop capacity building programs for GMS power interconnection to meet the booming demands for promoting such connectivity and facilitating trade in electricity, and to provide strong technical support and services.
Dr. Watcharas Leelawath, Executive Director of MI, further encouraged the participants in his welcome remarks, to share and discuss on the formulation of a GMS power grid operation standard and code emphasizing the importance of laying a good foundation for the implementation of potential and future regional substantive power interconnection projects. He informed that MI Strategic Plan 2016-2020 where power interconnection is one of the focuses under the program pillar, ‘Innovation and Technology Connectivity’. He also stated his willingness to continue working with the partner, CSG/YNPG to fulfill MI’s mandate.
