Thailand eyes alternative sources to get 30% share in power mix

Solar rooftops, biomass, and waste are expected to be used for power production.

The Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) of Thailand’s Energy Ministry is eyeing to boost alternative sources’ share in the country’s power consumption to 30% by 2030, The Nation reports.

Praphon Wongtharua, DEDE director-general, said the department has also been drafting a power development plan (PDP) for the same period. It will be categorised into North, Northeast, East, West, South and Bangkok.

Currently, alternative energy includes ethanol and biodiesel, which are normally petrol substitutes for powering vehicles. “However, their usage could well reduce due to the entry of electric vehicles and a mostly electric rail transit system,” The Nation said.

As part of the current plan, ethanol usage had been set at 11.3 million litres per day and bio-diesel as 14 million litres daily.

DEDE also expects to use solar rooftops, biomass, and waste for power production. Wongtharua also pointed out that solar rooftops can be installed anywhere, whilst biomass power plants can be located in areas where there is a large amount of wood waste, such as the South.

The 2015-2036 AEDP aims to use alternative resources to produce 19,684.4MW of power. Of this, 6GW megawatts will be provided by solar energy, 5.57GW from biomass, 3GW from wind power, and 2.91GW from hydropower.

The remainder will be generated using other means, such as 550MW from garbage; 600MW from waste and wastewater; 376MW from small hydropower plants; and 680MW from energy crops.