Bt10 BN sought for project, aid

The spending is designed to help reduce energy conservation, to address the global warming concern.

The ministry is drawing up a series of relief measures to assist flood victims. These will be submitted to the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC), chaired by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, by the end of this month.
 If approved, a budget of Bt10 billion will be used mainly to install solar cells for electricity generation in all local communities under a “one community one megawatt” scheme.
The budget will also be used to provide loans to flood-affected educational institutions, hospitals, dormitories and government agencies, enabling them to restore their electricity systems by replacing damaged facilities with energy-saving equipment. Yesterday, the ministry signed a memorandum of understanding with Thammasat University for a pilot project, and this success would be extended to other educational institutions.
Pichai said Thammasat University was one major flood victim planning to access the loan facility.

Meanwhile, the ministry reaffirmed yesterday that the government’s energy-credit-card initiative would be launched on December 1, as planned.
Energy Minister Pichai Naripthaphan said taxis using natural gas for vehicles (NGV) would be the target group in its pilot project for the card. About 60 gas stations in the Bangkok area will be covered in the pilot.
In addition, operators of vans, buses and trailers will be able to benefit from the energy credit card by December 15 at an expected 100 gas stations that have registered with the ministry.
The initial card offers a Bt3,000 discount per month to targeted groups.

The ministry will also propose to the NEPC the construction of more NGV stations along natural-gas pipelines, so as to facilitate targeted users such as taxi cooperatives, vans, buses and trailers.