Green fuels to make up 20%

Writer: YUTHANA PRAIWAN
Published: 7/09/2009 at 12:00 AM
Newspaper section: Business


Nongbua Cogeneration pig farm installed a 70-million-baht facility to produce biogas from the excrement of 15,000 pigs. Over 5,000 cubic metres of biogas is piped daily to a 1.4-megawatt power plant supplying electricity to the farm. SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

Under Thailand's 15-year alternative energy master plan, alternative sources will account for 20.4% of all energy consumed in 2023, compared with 6% this year, according to the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE).

The sources covered include ethanol, biodiesel, compressed natural gas, hydropower, biogas, biomass, wind power and solar cells.

"Some of those projects will apply to the UN carbon-trading scheme. We expect that greenhouse gas emissions will be cut to 42 million tonnes per year once the plan is fulfilled," said Krairit Nilkuha, the newly appointed director-general of the DEDE.

The DEDE expects that by 2023, solar cells will generate 650 megawatts of electricity, biogas 270 MW, biomass 9,720 MW, community waste 368 MW, hydropower 770 MW, and wind turbines 1,300 MW.

Mr Krairit said that because some alternative energy sources were more costly than traditional ones, the agency would offer attractive rates, known as adder tariffs, for power purchased from such projects.

The adder rates are 3.50 baht per unit (kilowatt.hour) for wind turbine power, 2.50 baht for community waste, 0.30 baht for biomass and biogas. The incentives would be offered for the first seven years of operation.

For solar power, an adder of eight baht a unit would be offered for 10 years, he added.

Rangsan Sarochawikasit, executive director of the Bureau of Energy Research, said the Energy Ministry would support the plan through Board of Investment privileges and soft loans to encourage energy services companies to apply to the United Nations for carbon credit trading.

At present, utilities are buying 4.1 MW of electricity from 47 solar cell operators, 20.5 MW from 25 biogas operators, 244 MW from 46 biomass operators, 2.4 MW from three power-from-waste projects, 0.06 MW from 2 mini-hydropower plants, and 0.08 MW from a wind turbine operator.

In the transport sector, the use of ethanol is expected to rise to 9 million litres per day from 1.3 million, methyl ester (B100) to 4.5 million litres from 1.4 million, and compressed natural gas to 690 million standard cubic feet (mmscfd) from 108 mmscfd.