As Office of the Energy Regulatory Commission of Thailand (hereinafter referred as “ERC Office”) has announced a list of 175 selected candidates in the “Project on Power Purchase from Renewable Energy Sources under a FiT Scheme between 2022-2030 for Power Plants with No Fuel Costs” (hereinafter referred to as “the project”) in the first phase with 4,852.26 Megawatts (MW) in total on April 5, 2023.
The ERC Secretary General Mr. Komkrit Tantravanich revealed that ERC is preparing to proceed for the project in the second phase another 3,668 MW consisting of:
Solar Farm: 2,632 MW
Wind Power: 1,000 MW
Biogas (Wastewater/Waste): 6.5 MW
Industrial Waste: 30 MW
However, it is expected that the second phase will open for application during June-August 2023 after the first phase of the project gradually sign the power purchase agreement (PPA) around June 2023 and is expected to open for any applicants that did not pass in the first phase to be able to apply again with the additional condition that do not relocate the power plant. [1]
ERC opened for public hearing on key principles of power purchase from the project "Power Purchase Extension for Phase 1" (Phase 2) between April 19-25, 2023, which divided into 2 parts as follows:
(1) ERC will give priority to the applicants of wind power and solar farm who have passed the minimum technical readiness criteria (Pass/Fail) but were not selected. ERC will consider in the following order: 1) Wind Power with a total purchase of not more than 600 MW, and 2) Solar Farm with a total purchase of not more than 1,580 MW.
ERC can increase the offer amount of power for the applicants who has been lastly considered and selected under the ERC’s regulations and announcements to purchase electricity from renewable energy of each type of fuel and agreed to reduce the offer amount to not exceed the remaining quota. However, the offer amount to be increased shall not exceed the original offer amount and the power grid has the potential to support.
(2) ERC will purchase power from the remaining quota, deducting the amount already purchased in (1), by giving an opportunity to the applicants who do not pass the qualification criteria, the minimum technical readiness score (Pass/Fail) or is not selected under the ERC’s regulations and announcements to purchase electricity from renewable energy or not selected for the purchase under (1) can revise their submitted offers under the criteria and conditions set by ERC. ERC will consider in the following order: 1) Biogas (Wastewater/Waste) 2) Wind Power 3) Solar Farm And 4) Industrial Waste.
For the applicants of Solar Farm with Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), under the ERC’s announcement to purchase electricity from renewable energy, can change their type of project to Solar Farm (no BESS) in order to apply for the project in the remaining quota. [2]
In addition, for the progress of the project in the first phase, the Electricity Authority (Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand and the Provincial Electricity Authority) has sent letters to all selected candidates, and ERC clarified that those selected have to sign and agree to the conditions of the Electricity Authority by April 19, 2023, in order to participate in the project. Subsequently, the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) will be signed. Those who will start to sell commercial electricity (COD) in 2024-2025 must sign PPA within 180 days, while those who will COD during 2026-2030 must sign PPA within 2 years from the date of signing acceptance of the conditions of the Electricity Authority. [3]
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