Thailand discusses more solar rooftops under 2021 target - report

Jul 16, 2013 - The Energy Policy Administration Committee (EPAC) in Thailand is discussing today changes in the ratio of renewables under its 2021 plan in a bid to boost the use of rooftop solar systems, a committee source told daily The Nation.

By 2021 the country aims to cover with wind, solar, biomass and other green energy sources 25% of its energy needs and that target will not be changed, according to the source. Yet, the share of certain technologies will be adjusted to promote solar rooftop installations. Under the existing scheme, in 2021 solar energy capacity was planned to reach 2,000 MW. Thailand was also targeting, prior to today’s meeting, 1,200 MW of wind power capacity; 3,630 MW of biomass power; 1,608 MW of hydropower; 160 MW of waste-to-energy; and 600 MW of biogas.

The EPAC meeting will also discuss a proposal by the Energy Ministry to launch 25-year feed-in tariffs for solar rooftop in 2013 and 2014. The ministry proposes three groups of FiTs. The first is a tariff of THB 6.69 (USD 0.22/EUR 0.17) per kWh for residential rooftop solar systems of up to 10 kW. The proposed FiT for 10 kW-250 kW installations at buildings and sites owned by small and medium-sized enterprises is THB 6.55 per kWh. The third group includes medium-to-large factories and solar parks of over 250 kW which could get a FiT of THB 6.16 per kWh under the ministry’s plan, The Nation said.

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