Authors : Marnwika Promban and Oran Kittithreerapronchai
Abstract: To response for the increases of electricity demands in thailand, ministry of energy through power development plan 2015 mandates the commissioning of additional coal-fired power plants. According to the plan, the full-scale operation in 2035 requires additional 20 million tons per annum. This unprecedented quantity of sub-bituminous and bituminous coals reflects a strategic challenge as coals must be imported and transported to the plants at competitive logistics costs while minimizing disruption of public transportation and environmental impacts. In addition to this logistics challenge, the plan also faces with local community scrutiny and politics pressures that may delay or even cancel some coal-fired plants. To elaborate these uncertainties, a mixed-integer linear programming is formulated to analyze and assess their impacts by determining suitable modes of transportation and locations of transit facility. The model also highlights importance of key parameters, specifically coal demands at power plants and construction period of transit facilities.
Marnwika Promban and Oran Kittithreerapronchai, 2017. Robust Optimization for Coal Transportation Planning. Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 12: 5609-5616.