Kingdom's ambitious renewable-energy sector attracts China

Thailand, over the best part of the past decade, has successfully established itself as Southeast Asia’s largest renewable-energy market, offering strong incentives to attract investment in all forms of renewables, from biomass to solar energy. As China’s demand for renewable energy keeps growing, Thailand has a real opportunity to do more business of this kind with Chinese firms.
While Suntech is waiting to see exactly what the new government’s energy policies will be before making a final decision, its proposed US$20 million (Bt600 million) investment could see Thailand emerge as the company’s largest market in Asia-Pacific, claiming pole position from Australia.
Thailand’s ambitious goal is for renewables to contribute 20 per cent of total energy supply by 2020. To achieve this, Board of Investment incentives and a diverse range of tariffs and benefits have been used to drive local financing initiatives for clean-tech projects. Meanwhile, the high level of local technical expertise and an established legislative framework for the renewable sector have added to Thailand’s allure for both investors and technologists.
Most of the renewable projects in Thailand have focused on waste-to-energy conversion, predominantly biomass and biogas projects. A great deal of innovation has developed around the cassava and palm-oil industries, which have not only managed to recapture energy produced in their various production processes and feed it back into the supply chain, but have also started selling off excess energy to the national grid.
Meanwhile, momentum for solar and wind projects is gathering pace thanks to adjustments in incentives to make investments in these technologies more attractive. Solar and wind tend to be more costly than biomass and biogas, but supply a more consistent form of energy.
Experts anticipate that wind and solar projects will soon start “emerging from the shadows”; grid-connected projects have doubled over the past year or so. However, a substantial increase in international investment will be required if Thailand is to achieve its 20-per-cent target and join the big league of large-scale renewable power producers.
That’s what makes the growing interest from Chinese green-energy firms so pleasing, as witnessed by Suntech’s proposed investment.
In the meantime, let’s hope that Thailand’s clean-tech sector can continue to demonstrate the high levels of expertise and innovation that have seen the Kingdom emerge as Southeast Asia’s green-energy hub. Proving to Suntech and other Chinese companies that Thai firms are not only committed to producing renewable energy, but also to developing renewable cooperation, may be the additional incentive that attracts future investment in the local industry.

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