The government should make Krabi province switch to 100% renewable energy instead of using energy from coal-fired power plants as planned, a seminar was told yesterday.
Suphakit Nantavorakarn, from the Healthy Public Policy Foundation, said Krabi had the potential to embrace renewable energy.
Mr Suphakit was speaking to about 30 participants of a seminar, "Krabi 100% Renewable Energy", held in Bangkok.
He said if the idea is put into practice, he wants other provinces to learn a lesson from Krabi. He said they could work together to help push for renewable energy.
The seminar was aimed at educating the public about the importance of renewable energy to counter the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand 's (Egat) plan to build an 800-megawatt coal-fired power plant and coal seaport in Krabi.
Egat earlier said the projects will support increasing demand for electricity in the southern provinces and prevent power shortages in the region.
However, locals and environmentalists are worried about the effects on their health and the environment.
Residents have taken their concerns to the government, but its leaders insist more such power plants are needed to boost the country's long-term energy security.
Mr Suphakit said figures from the Energy Regulatory Commission of the Energy Ministry show that 13 small-scale operators in Krabi generate 39.2 megawatts of power from renewable energy sources and sell it to Egat.
Renewable energy sources include solar panels, biogas derived from animal dung and cassava, and biomass derived from wood, rice husks and corn cobs.
Five other operators, with a total capacity of 22.7 megawatts, have signed a purchase agreement and are about to start distributing power into the system, he said.
However, Mr Suphakit said he believes Krabi still has potential to generate more power from renewable sources, although he did not come up with a figure for how much.
The Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency, which is under the Energy Ministry, reported in 2013 that Krabi has the potential to produce 45 megawatts from biogas, 2,388 megawatts from biomass and 18,220 megawatts from solar panels.