RE: What Do The Thais Think

[Bruce551]

Khun Twarath Sutabutr, deputy director of the department of alternative energy at the (called DEDE) Energy Ministry

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/310515,thailand-promotes-solar-farms-amid-the-paddy-fields--feature.html

Bangkok - Sun-worshippers should think twice about Thailand's famed beach resorts. The ideal places to capture the sun's rays in Thailand are in fact on its elevated north-eastern plateau, called Isaan, and the flat, rice-growing lands of the central plains, according to 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.

Similarly, a coastline is a cloud magnet, Twarath, the government's chief salesman for solar energy, said.

Thailand has taken a clear lead in promoting the use of solar energy in South-East Asia, a region rich in sunshine but poor in budgets for promoting expensive alternative energies that may help save the planet but ultimately cost consumers more.

A combination of factors fell together last year to turn the tide in Thailand, which is now enjoying a mini-boom in solar projects.

Firstly, the price of imported solar panels fell about 50 per cent in 2009, as a result of an oversupply on the world market caused in part by the global recession.

Secondly, Thailand introduced an "adder tariff," similar to Germany's "feed-in tariff," for purchases of solar energy from private suppliers.

The Electricty Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), which operates the national electricity grid, now pays 8 baht (25 cents) per unit of electricity supplied by solar roofs or solar farms, compared with the 3 baht for other energy sources. (correction solar - 2.5 + 8 = 10.5 Baht $0.32 cents)

And thirdly, worries about global warming began to be recognized by the government, which has vowed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the energy sector by up to 30 per cent by the year 2020.

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. (Limited Solar farm investment to 500 MW is a mistake)

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

"It came to us as a surprise," Twarath said of the rush of projects.

"At first we thought there would not be much interest to build this system, but after we enforced the adder tariff and other factors such as Copenhagen (climate change conference) and the price of PV (photovoltaic) solar panels falling, we are seeing a boom of solar farms in Thailand," he said.

Whether the boom will materialize remains to be seen.

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.

"We will probably finalize the supplier contract this month," Bangchak's Executive Vice President Bundit Sapianchai said. "At the time we start up we will be the biggest in Thailand."

But it probably won't be the biggest for long.

The Hong Kong-based China Light and Power (CLP) has submitted a proposal to build a 73-MW solar farm in Lopburi province, at an estimated cost of 9 billion baht.

If they follow through, that would be the largest solar farm in the world. The current largest is a 60-MW operation in Spain.

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

One of the biggest investment costs for solar energy is land. It takes about 1.5 hectares of land to produce 1 MW of solar energy.

An advantage Thailand has in solar energy is the availability of relatively cheap land, at least in the north-east.

"The land in Chaiyaphum is cheap, and in some areas it's salty so you can't grow anything," Bundit said.

He calculates that with the government's adder tariff, Bangchak should be able to get a return of 10-12 per cent on its investments in solar farms.

The Energy Ministry has so far set a limit of 500 MW on solar energy 9shouldthat 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. Love government to much

This could partly explain the big corporate rush to get the solar farm projects up and running.

"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."

And:

Thailand Looks at Nuclear Power as Part of Alternative Energy Plans

Ron Corben | Bangkok23 February 2010

Like many developing countries, Thailand is looking for ways to ease its reliance on costly imported oil and gas. A new government plan includes nuclear power, bio-fuels and solar energy among potential energy sources for the country.

Thailand's goal, set out in a new power development plan, is to almost double energy output over the next decade. To do so will require construction of at least two nuclear power plants.

Tara Buakamsri, a campaign director with the environmental group Greenpeace, says the nuclear path is just one of several the government has considered in its energy strategy.

"They want to diversify because Thailand is very much relying on gas, natural gas so they want to bring in new coal-fired power stations and also nuclear," he explained. "At the moment they are proposing five to seven nuclear reactors into the power development plan. So that's one of the most controversial issues for power development for the next 20 years."

A special study of nuclear power costs and its risks will be done and will be submitted to the Cabinet in 2011.

"Next year the Cabinet will be making a decision whether Thailand should go nuclear or not," he added. "So this is a one-year window for civil society who wants to see a better energy system for Thailand to take on the nuclear debate. So it's not easy for the government - even with political change - if they want to push Thailand to go nuclear."

Another option under the power development plan is for Thailand to draw more energy from neighbors Laos, Burma and China through gas and hydroelectricity. The government plan says Thailand could meet as much as 25 percent of its power needs this way.

But environmentalists raise concerns over relying on external sources of electricity. They also are worried about human rights abuses in Burma caused when the government clears land for hydro-electricity projects.

With oil prices expected to rise in the coming years, Thailand, like many other developing nations, wants to cut oil imports. The Energy Ministry is leading efforts to find alternative fuels, especially for cars.

Twarath Sutabutr, a deputy director general handling the ministry's alternative energy programs, says the government wants to boost the role of renewable energy.

"That strategic plan has a proactive target to increase the renewable energy proportion from 6 percent to 20 percent within 15 years," he noted. "In that particular plan we divided each technology and we very much focused on solar and wind, bio-energy, biomass, biogas, bio-fuel, and manageable waste and compressed natural gas for fuels."

Within a few years, the government hopes to see up to one million flexible fuel vehicles, which can use ethanol as fuel, on the road.

Kiat Sitteeamorn, president of the Thailand Trade Representative Office, says alternative fuels are one way to help rural areas develop, since they can be made from tapioca and palm oil.

"Thailand is among the first in ASEAN [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] member countries that actually embarks on the program to transform tapioca into gasohol," he said. "So now it's being used nationwide for 95 [octane] and 91 [octane] gasoline. So that in itself - we have discovered it helps maintain the price of tapioca very well."

The energy plan sets an investment target of more than $11 billion, which could create more than 40,000 jobs. But by cutting oil and gas imports, the country could save $14 billion.

Twarath says the next step will be to encourage private investors to take part.

"We believe that we have strong resources and strong human capital in bio-energy, in biomass … and we believe that there would be a lot of investment in Thailand in solar and wind as well," added Twarath. "But if you have me pick some kind of leading alternative energy as renewable for Thailand - I would say bio energy would probably be number one."

Direk Lavansiri, chief of Thailand Electricity Regulatory Commission, says investors have already shown interest in solar and wind power.

"So far there are many investors that are interested in renewable energy," he explained. "The high proportion is on the solar energy and the wind. These two categories exceed what is according to the plan, the number of megawatts."

While the government's energy plans are extensive, environmental groups such as Greenpeace say there are significant challenges.

First, they say, the government needs to decide if it wants to decentralize power sources - using smaller projects - or to invest in expensive systems such as nuclear power plants.

And, they say, the Thai government must work with communities to build acceptance for new power plants and fuel facilities.

Find this article at:

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/science-technology/Thailand-Looks-at-Nuclear-Power-as-Part-of-Alternative-Energy-Plans-85040182.html

:idea:

[Bruce551]

In The USA,

Vermont Yankee to be Shut Down

“Vermonters sent a message to President Obama and the nuclear industry today,†said Greenpeace’s Nuclear Policy Analyst Jim Riccio. “The nuclear renaissance is dead on arrival. We can retire old, decrepit and leaking reactors like Vermont Yankee and help usher in the energy revolution that America needs.â€

“When American’s have the choice about the kind of energy they want in their communities, they don’t want nuclear. Vermont has shut down the myth of the so-called nuclear renaissance. Greenpeace is calling on Vermonter legislators to vote against relicensing in the house as well so that the message to America registers loud and clear.â€

This decision is an interesting one. Like Sacramento many years before it, Vermont decided to proactively shut down their Nuclear plant. In this case, Vermont was choosing this pathway even though the variable costs of the plant were less than $0.03/kWh.

For new Nuclear we have a slightly different case. The recently $8.3B in loan guarantees for Southern Company's nuclear plant is on a total bill of $14.4B for just 2,200MW of nuclear.

At the same time, McKinsey claims that over over 85% of the 17 gigatons of carbon reduction we need globally by 2020 could be achieved by efficiency alone.

Further, that for $14.4B, Southern company could perform such deep energy efficiency retrofits that they would create 10 times the number of construction jobs than the Nuclear plant.

I am not anti-nuclear, but some of these large Nuclear plants plans need to rethought towards more manageable strategies. Companies like Hyperion are creating small reactors that can be sited and financed more easily than the large Nuclear power plants.

Nuclear power holds the promise to be a big player in our effort to decarbonize the electricity grid, but their lack of common sense around how to handle public relations seems to be their Achilles heel.

Jigar Shah

CEO, Carbon War Room

Founder, SunEdison