More solar licences to be revoked

A combined 700 megawatts of approved solar farm operating licences held by benign licence holders will be revoked soon, says an Energy Ministry senior official.

The official, who declined to be named, said solar energy licences covering 3,000 MW have been approved by the ministry for those seeking the government’s subsidy through the adder tariff programme since 2008 but only 400 MW are in operation.

The rest are inactive, and some licence holders have not even started construction.

‘‘We only targeted 2,000 MW when we opened registration but received 3,000 MW worth of licences in only a few weeks,’’ said the source.

The ministry estimates only 1,000 MW will be operational and so plans to revoke 2,000 MW worth of licences.

The source said some 500 MW of licences have already been revoked, and another 700 MW will follow.

One renewable energy operator wanted to buy the licences from existing inactive holders instead of seeking a new one, as existing holders can sell their output at an adder tariff of eight baht a unit on top of the normal fossil-fuel cost of 3.75 baht a unit.

‘‘If I seek a new licence, I can only sell at 6.50 baht plus the normal rate under the feed-in-tariff (FiT) subsidy programme,’’ said the private operator, who asked not to be named.

When all inactive licences are revoked, the ministry will reopen licensing for new operators under the FiT programme.

Meanwhile, the ministry is nearly finished with its study of solar rooftop subsidies, keenly watched by homeowners and offices.

In other energy news, energy analyst Tienchai Chongpeerapien warned that transmission lines below 115 kilowatts of voltage should be buried underground to prevent damage from severe storms.

‘‘I think storms have been stronger lately due to climate change,’’ said Mr Tienchai.

He said city administration and utility officials should reassess risk and power security during storms, as low-voltage power poles exist mostly in metropolitan areas.

He warned there could be more power outages if wires are kept above ground.