Published on 11/09/2014
Farm waste to provide spark The Energy Ministry plans to speed up development of biomass and biogas from farm waste in the Northeast to obtain an additional 1,000 megawatts of power. Permanent secretary Areepong Bhoocha-oom yesterday said the energy industry would outline the requirements for the biomass and biogas projects once the power development plan for 2015-36 was finalised. The northeastern region holds potential for small power producers to generate electricity from agricultural waste and wastewater from factories. "We believe the potential in this region is relatively high, as more than 1,000 MW of electricity from biomass and biogas is possible," Mr Areepong said. "The Northeast is Thailand's production hub for cassava, rice and sugar cane, and waste from farms and manufacturing can be put to use as fuel for generating energy." Over the past decade, energy regulators have seen strong demand for biomass and biogas operating licences from the agricultural sector. But to win a licence for such projects requires an upstream-to-downstream system for controlling supply, demand and feedstock. "The applications from the agribusiness sector seeking licences from regulators have always been for far higher than the number of megawatts we planned," Mr Areepong said. Another problem is many northeastern provinces lack sufficient high-voltage transmission lines to link the grid to renewable energy projects across the region, putting commercial viability in doubt. A senior Energy Ministry official said the new requirements and conditions for biogas and biomass investment would be laid out soon. The new conditions will include beefed-up safety standards for the use of machinery and employment of skilled local workers, said the official, who asked not to be named.
The stricter rules come on the heels of several reported deaths in recent years from workers inhaling methane during biogas plant maintenance. Thailand's operating capacity stands at 2,366 MW for biomass and 290 MW for biogas. The Alternative Energy Development Plan stipulates the targets for 2021 are 4,800 MW for biomass and 600 MW for biogas. Mr Areepong said the biomass and biogas development plan would secure power generation throughout the Northeast. Up to now, the region has relied largely on hydropower from local plants and neighbouring Laos. Annual growth in electricity demand for the region has averaged 7% over the past six years, outstripping growth in Thailand as a whole. Biomass and biogas bring the prospect of electricity security because the projects can be developed more quickly than hydropower plants. Energy officials had planned to revise the feed-in tariff scheme for biomass and biogas at the end of last year, as the existing tariff rate offered too low a return on investment. The revisions were delayed as political turmoil took hold. The tentative revision of feed-in tariffs will service a greater capacity compared with the previous flat-rate adder tariff. "We expect the supporting policy for the bioprojects to come soon, as it will help to develop the domestic economy as well," Mr Areepong said.