Thailand postpones commercial operations of 14 renewable power plants

The Thai Government has given the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) the go-ahead to extend the deadline for 14 renewable power plants to start commercial operations.

The Energy Policy Administrative Committee (EPAC) approved the ERC’s proposal after many operators called for the government to ease the commercial operations date (COD) conditions.

The 14 projects include waste-to-energy, biogas and biomass resources, with a combined power generation of 300 MW. These operators have been stymied by local protesters opposing development of power projects in their communities.

Some projects have yet to begin construction because of trouble raising money or impractical technologies.

ERC Deputy General Secretary Khomgrich Tantravanich said the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) will approve the deadline extension on December 16.

According to the ERC, many operators have asked for permission to relocate their sites after being resisted by local protesters, but public hearings were completed.

Khomgrich said the ERC will consider how to extend the limitation without cancelling granted licences.

All renewable power projects were granted power generation licences between 2015 and 2018, with the COD deadline of 2019-2021.

Thailand expects that renewable energy will contribute 29,358 MW or 33 percent of total power generation in the country in 2037, up 10 percent over 2017./.

VNA