Axing of energy licences rubbished
WETA slams move to curb renewable growth
The Waste to Energy Trade Association (WETA), a body under the Federation of Thai Industries (FTI), has denounced policymakers for curbing the development of waste-to-energy projects, saying alternative energy sources are the key to reaching the government’s goals of low emissions and energy independence.
The association issued a statement yesterday after the government announced it would no longer provide licences to develop and operate renewable power over the next five years, in a bid to hold down power bill costs.
Policymakers said they would only support projects that sell power to state utilities at a lower rate than for traditional fossil sources such as coal and natural gas.
Waste-to-energy projects have been supported nationwide by the military-led government since 2015 but still face “very large obstacles”, according to WETA chairman Montri Wiboonrat.
He said the push from the waste-toenergy sector is aimed at dealing with massive amounts of waste in big cities across Thailand.
“It looked good in the first year of the policy’s implementation, but it has remained the same situation with many tonnes of rubbish,” Mr Montri said.
He said the policy was implemented because many state agencies were reluctant to yield any authority.
Waste-to-energy projects that have been developed and operated include 22 power plants with a combined capacity of 213 megawatts, lower than an earlier expectation of 500MW.
“If the policymakers had facilitated these measures in a practical way to the investors, the WETA estimates that the waste-toenergy power plants in the country would have reached 1,000MW,” Mr Montri said.
He said such obstacles have complicated the development and operation of many projects, such as double-licence granting and the need for two environmental examinations by multiple state agencies.
Improvements need to be made, he said, giving the example of only the governors of each province being allowed to authorise licences.
Mr Montri said the situation regarding renewable power plants has worsened after the Energy Ministry said late last month that it would suspend new licences in order to focus on developing renewable energy.
The new structure will have a feed-in tariff set at just 2.40 baht per kilowatt-hour, significantly below the adder rate (the rate state utilities pay operators) of 5.787.04 baht.
At present, state utilities buy the power they need at the feed-in tariff rate. The adder has been shelved since 2010.
The WETA will submit its position of related policy matters soon, the group said.
Romchalee Chanprasit, chief executive of WPGE Phetchaburi Co, said waste-toenergy projects could not be implemented for the last three years.
WPGE is a renewable power arm of SETlisted Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction Plc. It is developing a waste-to-energy project in Phetchaburi’s Thayang district.
“Our project is nearly ready to go into commercial operations in July at a total cost of 1.8 billion baht and a capacity of 7.9MW, based on using the adder of 6.50 baht per kilowatt-hour,” Ms Romchalee said. “The company spent over four years preparing and developing the project with almost 20 licences from several government agencies.”
She said a development team almost withdrew from the project due to a lack of tools; moreover, banks declined to provide any loans.
Renewable energy sources are nearing price parity with traditional energy sources in Thailand, according to Nop Narongdej, chairman of the executive committee of Wind Energy Holdings.
This would mean they are catching up with mature markets like Australia, Mr Nop said.
An oversupply of solar energy infrastructure — all built within the last few years — will also have a role in pushing prices down, experts say.
Waste-to-energy may soon be seen as part of a comprehensive renewable energy programme.
At least until effective battery systems are developed, waste-to-energy can be a reliable source if the conditions for operating wind and solar are not met, Mr Nop said.