State-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has started operating its 10th mini-hydropower plant in Uttaradit as the country continues its effort to reduce power prices by adopting more renewable energy.
Thailand is trying to use more renewable energy, which is less expensive than the imported liquefied natural gas used for fuel in electricity generation.
A shift towards clean energy also helps the government in its quest to meet its carbon neutrality goal, a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption.
Boonyanit Wongrukmit, governor of Egat, presided over the opening of the 14-megawatt plant, located in Pha Chuk sub-district in Uttaradit.
The new facility brings the total generation capacity of mini-hydropower plants to 102MW.
The commercial operation of the Pha Chuk facility was previously scheduled to start in December 2021, but was delayed because of the pandemic.
Mr Boonyanit said the new plant is equipped with two generators that can help the government cut 45,800 tonnes of carbon dioxide annually.
Authorities initiated the Pha Chuk project in 2007 to promote renewable energy development in the country, in line with concerns over global warming.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha vowed in November 2021 during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow that Thailand would be more serious in addressing climate change, striving to reach carbon neutrality by 2050.
Mr Boonyanit said Egat plans to push ahead with 15 floating solar farm projects nationwide, with a combined capacity of 2,750MW, over the next 15 years.
Egat is preparing to set up a new floating solar farm, with a capacity of 24MW, at Ubolratana Dam in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen.
Its first 45MW floating solar farm at Sirindhorn Dam in Ubon Ratchathani, also in the Northeast, commenced operation in 2021.
