Thailand pushing community solar power plant project

Is developing criteria for selecting project participants.

The Ministry of Energy said that one of the likely criteria is that participating communities must be situated in favorable locations, meaning those with exposure to strong sunlight and access to power-transmission lines.

It wants communities to own the plants themselves, and discourages private firms from taking part in the project whose aim is to help communities generate income.

The feed-in tariff (FIT) for the community plants is attractive enough to encourage financial institutions to lend to them, according to the ministry. The FIT for community power plants is US$ 0.312 per unit during the first three years; US$ 0.201 from the fourth to the 10th year, and US$ 0.144 from the 11th to the 25th year.

The solar plants are expected to start feeding power next year, and the project is expected to generate income of US$2.54 million per community throughout 25 years.

The ministry will advise the communities on how to seek funding and the standard of the equipment to be used in plant establishment.