Thailand promotes solar farms

Surprisingly, the optimal places to capture the sun's rays in the in Southeast Asian country are in Isaan, which is an elevated plateau in north-eastern Thailand, and the rice-growing lands on the central plains, said the Energy Ministry.

"Solar farms are best on flat ground, where there are no mountains nearby, because if you are too close to mountains there is a better chance of clouds," Twarath Sutabutr, deputy director of the department of alternative energy at the Energy Ministry, said.

Twarath, the government's chief salesman for solar energy, said that a coastline also has the disadvantage of being a cloud magnet.

The Energy Ministry last year invited the private sector to invest in solar farms to meet its goal of producing 500 megawatt (MW) of solar-generated electricity by 2020.

By last month, the ministry has already received applications for projects that would supply 425 MW within the next two-three years.

The first solar project that is expected to see the light of day is a 30-MW farm in Ayutthaya province to be built by Bangchak Petroleum Company, one of Thailand's main oil refineries and the owner of a chain of petrol stations nationwide.

The board of directors at Bangchak, which has set itself a goal of becoming a "zero global warming impact company" within five years - ambitious for a refinery - has already approved a 3-billion-baht (90.9-million-dollar) investment in a 30-MW solar farm in Ayutthaya, which should in operation within 18 months.

The Hong Kong-based China Light and Power (CLP) has presented a proposal to build a 73-MW solar farm in Lopburi province, at an estimated cost of 9 billion baht and if it's built, it would be the largest solar farm in the world.

Bangchak is also looking for a plot of land in Chaiyaphum province for a 50-MW solar plant.

The Energy Ministry has so far set a limit of 500 MW on solar energy that it is willing to buy under the 8-baht adder tariff scheme, after which the government may need to start reducing the tariff or passing on the cost to consumers.

"The Thai government has a firm policy of promoting renewable energy projects on a first-come, first-served basis, because we would like to award the projects that are ready to go and we are trying to avoid brokers," Twarath said. "So I would like to see real investments happen within this year."