PBS JULY 18

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SOLAR ENERGY GIVEN
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After suspending a programme
for the past four years which was
meant to allow private householders
to sell any surplus solar
power they may generate to state
utilities, the Department of Alternative
Energy Development and
Efficiency, a division of the Energy
Ministry, is now once more
planning to allow the move to go
ahead.
Private buildings and householders
who are accepted into
the programme will be able to
sell their excess solar power, the
only issue at present being that
the Energy Ministry is still carrying
out studies designed to work
out the best way to create investment
conditions. The studies are
expected to be concluded by the
end of this year, which means
any kind of implementation will
not take place until some time in
2019 at the earliest.
The Energy Minister is quoted
as saying there is no firm time
frame at this juncture because details
such as the business model,
which will include the investment
budget, the tariff to be set for the
power, metering systems and a
number of other factors have yet
to be fully developed. The Energy
Ministry believes the cost of developing
rooftop solar photovoltaic
panels has dropped and householders
could sell their excess to
the state grid for up to 2.44 baht
per kilowatt-hour. There is likely
to be a two-tiered selling model,
the first being a business-to-business
model and the second being
a simple sale of power wholesale
to the state.
The government has set a target
of having renewable
energy make up 30 percent of
Thailand’s total power generation
by 2036. Presently, renewable
energy only makes up 10 percent
of power, while fossil fuels make
up a massive 85 percent.
The Energy Ministry noted
that biomass and biogas are becoming
key energy sources and
currently produce around 3,000
megawatts each year. The rooftop
solar programme was first
launched in 2013, with a total
quota of just 200 megawatts.
The programme quickly ran
into political difficulties and was
quietly sidelined. This left some
early adopters out in the cold as
it were but once more it looks as
though the drive to revive solar
energy is back on the government’s
agenda, albeit slowly.
Solar rooftop owners operate
as independent power suppliers
(IPSs) and the Energy Regulatory
Commission notes that at present
IPSs have a combined
capacity of 2,600 megawatts and
accounts for 6.5 percent of the total
power generation system. The
Commission says new IPSs are
being launched each month with
an average capacity of four to five
megawatts.
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