Thailand's 'solar gold rush' could see public selling rooftop power from September

Thailand's 'solar gold rush' could see public selling rooftop power from
September

THAILAND may allow households and factories with solar rooftops to start
selling excess electricity to the national power grid from September, in a
bid by the kingdom to slash power bills and increase emphasis on renewable
energy.

Thailand is already Southeast Asia's leading solar market; there were 2.75GW
of new solar power installations by the end of September 2016, a marked
increase from 722MW installations in 2015 and 470MW in 2014, according to
the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).

The kingdom's integrated energy blueprint and focus on renewable power
sources will ensure these numbers will grow over the year and beyond, says
Legal Business Online.

A report by Bangkok-based law firm Pugnatorius Ltd titled Thailand Solar
Outlook 2017 forecast that 2017 will be the kingdom's "second solar gold
rush". World-leading PV inverter manufacturer Sungrow, in a December 2016
release citing the report, said further industry growth is expected "as
technologies continue to improve and costs fall".

Recognising the rush, the Department of Alternative Energy Development and
Efficiency (DEDE) proposed September as the date from which members of the
public and businesses can start selling excess power generated from their
solar rooftops, according to Bangkok Post.

DEDE director-general Praphon Wontharua said household and factory solar
generators could be selling an estimated 100MW of power to the national grid
provider, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), once the
scheme takes off.

This is expected to help reduce the public's power costs and provide the
grid with additional power especially during peak demand periods, on top of
promoting use of renewable energy.

Chulalongkorn University will determine the details of the project and
present them to the Energy Ministry and the National Energy Policy Council
for approval.

Via the Alternative Energy Development Plan, EGAT hopes to increase the
kingdom's use of renewable energy to 30 percent of the total final energy
consumption by 2036. On the supply side, recent revisions to Thailand's
Power Development Plan (PDP2015) states that renewable power will account
for up to 40 percent of the country's total power output, writes Ampai
Harakunarak, a research director for Sustainable Development at the Thailand
Development Research Institute, in a Bangkok Post opinion article last
month.

"The increasing target for renewable energy reflects growing confidence in
renewable energy technologies, as well as increasing estimated potential,"
the researcher said.

Thailand's Energy Efficiency Plan also has an energy saving target of
reducing energy intensity by 30 percent, compared to 2010 targets.

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Link to Original Article:
https://asiancorrespondent.com/2017/06/thailands-solar-gold-rush-see-public-
selling-rooftop-power-september/#w8UGRwdDumgdfc6Z.97

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com