The Energy Conservation Fund is expected to approve projects worth 3 billion baht next week under its 35-billion-baht five-year budget through 2016 to drive development of renewable energies, says board member Kurujit Nakornthap.
The fund will partially support funding of projects including waste-to-energy
and solar rooftops, both developed by
state agencies. The amount is part of the 2014/15 fiscal year, said Mr Kurujit, also director-general of the Department of Mineral Fuels.
The fund was started in 2012 and 14 billion baht has been used. Projects worth 7 billion are being screened for the 2015/2016 fiscal year, he said.
The fund's new board, chaired by Gen Udomdej Seetabutr, secretary-general of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), ordered a review of 23 energy-saving and efficiency projects last month worth nearly 10 billion baht.
The fund's revenue comes from levies collected on fuels at 25 satang per litre, amounting to 7.5 billion baht a year.
Mr Kurujit, a former deputy permanent secretary for energy, said the fund also planned to introduce a new feed-in tariff rate for renewable energy projects reflecting the actual cost of new technologies, as new incentives were slated for renewable energies.
Some 8% of Thailand's total electricity generating capacity is from renewable energy. The goal is an increase to 25% of the total by 2021.
Meanwhile, the Energy for Environment Foundation proposed several energy reform measures to the junta. The foundation's chairman, Piyasvasti Amranand, also the board chairman of PTT Plc, said
the power tariff for renewable energies, especially solar, should be adjusted
to reflect lower costs. The rate should
use liquefied natural gas (LNG) as the reference price instead of natural gas because LNG will be a major power source when gas from the Gulf of Thailand is exhausted, he said. It also wants the junta to waive operation permits for renewable energy projects and the Energy Regulatory Commission to become a one-stop shop that can grant permits.