Minister: Thailand supports rooftop solar to protect against LNG price spikes
Akanat Promphan, Thailand's Energy Minister, said on Wednesday that the country will assist the public in installing 5 gigawatts of rooftop solar panels by the end of the year. This will?protect a million homes against the soaring prices for energy caused?by conflict in the Middle East?.
The plan will be financed by a 400-billion-baht emergency borrowing decree ($12.02 billion), which allocated 200 billions baht for the green energy transformation.
Ekniti Nitithanprapas, the Finance Minister, announced last month that the government would provide financial assistance of 50,000 Baht ($1,502) per household along with loans to help pay for rooftop solar?installations.
Akanat said in an interview that solar rooftops would be included in the power development plan of the country. Akanat said in an interview that solar rooftops will be part of the country's power development plan.
According to the minister, the plan aims to increase the share of renewables to 60% in the overall mix of power generation, and the rest to be sourced from natural gas.
This will be a very aggressive strategy. He said that the plan would span 25 years.
Akanat said that the plan includes carbon capture technology for Thailand's gas-fired power plants as well as improved grid modernisation and energy storage.
The country is also searching for new sources of natural gas.
The?minister stated that "we're looking for longer-term deals that will stabilise liquefied gas sources, regardless of what happens in the Middle East and any geopolitical conflicts."
According to the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand, approximately 64% of electricity generated in the country is powered by natural gas.
Last year, Thailand imported 10,4 million metric tons of LNG. Kpler data intelligence platform says that 5 million tonnes of the total were spot purchases.
Akanat reported that PTTEP (the exploration and production arm of state-owned energy giant PTT) has allocated a budget for exploring new gas fields on the Andaman sea and in Myanmar.
(source: Reuters)
