Thailand: Eppo to bid out SPP hybrid licences

Thailand: Eppo to bid out SPP hybrid licences

The Energy Policy and Planning Office (Eppo) plans to launch a new round of
licensing bids for the development of renewable power projects for the small
power producer (SPP) programme under a hybrid firm power purchasing
agreement, or SPP hybrid firm.

The licences will be for a combined power-generating capacity of 300
megawatts.

With a firm power purchasing agreement (PPA), the SPPs need to be well
managed in terms of power resources and power storage systems to generate
constant power to the state utilities.

A firm PPA is a contract under which operators supply an exact amount of
power as required by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.

An SPP hybrid firm PPA allows operators to mix in renewable power resources
such as gas, biomass or other agricultural waste to generate power. The
country's renewable power development plan calls for licences for investors
to generate a total capacity of 850-1,000MW this year.

Twarath Sutabutr, director-general of Eppo, said licences for the SPP hybrid
projects are expected to be provided to investors by the second quarter this
year. The licences consist of five groups, with the first to be granted SPP
hybrid firm PPAs.

He said the total investment in all five groups of renewable power licences
this year is expected to be 42-50 billion baht, excluding investment in
land.

Before issuing licences, the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) will screen
investors to ensure they are active. Inactive investors are barred from this
round because there were some 200MW of inactive projects that obtained
licences since last year with no investment being made.

The screening process is expected to be complete by April. The ERC will
issue investment conditions and business models for the projects.

The Provincial Electricity Authority and the Alternative Energy Development
and Efficiency Department will map out the locations to avoid renewable
power projects in areas that lack transmission lines.

The second round of renewable power licences for this year is for very small
power producers (VSPPs), which could be under a semi-firm power purchasing
agreement. These projects include biomass and other renewable power sources
nationwide, including in the three deep southern provinces, with total
capacity of 289MW.

Investment conditions and business models will be determined by the ERC,
said Mr Twarath.

The ERC set up two VSPPs in the deep South under the Pracha Rat project. The
first phase covered capacity of 18MW and the second 35MW.

The last renewable group to be given licences this year were solar farms and
waste-to-energy projects with 200MW capacity.

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Link to Original Article:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1206165/eppo-to-bid-out-spp-hybrid-
licences

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com