Ratch looking for more biomass projects; work on Songkhla power plant underway
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Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding's Songkhla biomass power plant is now under construction and commercial operations are expected to commence in October next year.
“We aim to boost our renewable-energy capacity to 500 megawatts, focusing on wind, solar and biomass,” chief executive officer Pongdith Potchana said yesterday. “We have been looking for new biomass projects in Thailand, especially in the South where there is plenty of agricultural waste to supply this kind of power plant. Feasibility studies for several potential projects have been carried out.”
The Songkhla project was launched in 2011 and engineering design, procurement of main power-plant equipment and construction of infrastructure and utilities are progressing as planned.
The horizontal grinding machine will be commissioned next June.
The plant’s output will be sold to the Provincial Electricity Authority for 25 years.
The Bt800-million, 9.9MW plant in Chana district was developed in line with the government’s policy to reduce fossil-fuel dependency in electricity generation.
The government’s development plan for renewable energy and alternative energy has set a goal of 3.63 gigawatts of generating capacity from biomass by 2021, up from 1.79GW currently.
In Ratch’s Songkhla project, the surrounding community is expected to benefit from employment and sales of farm waste worth about Bt4 billion. Oil imports will be trimmed, and carbon-dioxide emissions will be reduced by 37,500 tonnes annually, the firm says.
Operated by Songkhla Biomass Co, the project is a 40:40:20 joint venture of Ratch, Precise Power Producers Co and Assiddeek Savings Cooperative. It is fuelled primarily by 300-370 tonnes of rubber-wood slabs and roots daily.
As a very small power producer, the facility will receive an adder tariff of Bt1.30 per unit for seven years from the Energy Regulatory Commission’s Power Development Fund.
