Nong Khai Nam villagers, Saraburi Province filed a lawsuit against the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) to the Central Administrative Court requesting to revoke the Electricity Industry Licenses of the Waste to Energy project development in Saraburi province. The reason is that the project location is in the middle of the community which can be impact on the environment, health and community wellbeing.
On October 10, 2023, Network of Nong Khai Nam Subdistrict Villagers and a total of 57 co-plaintiffs filed a lawsuit against the ERC to the Central Administrative Court to get a judgment to revoke 3 licenses i.e., a Building Construction Permit (Aor. 1), a Factory Operation License (Ror.Ngor.4) and an Electricity Generation License, of the Phra Phutthabat Town Municipality’s Project regarding Waste to Energy using RDF as a fuel with a capacity of 9.5 megawatts. The project is located at Nong Khai Nam Subdistrict, Nong Khae District, Saraburi Province.
This project is a project of Phra Phutthabat Town Municipality, Phra Phutthabat District, Saraburi Province, and a private sector has been selected to carry out the project. Recently, the project is under preparing for construction.
Villagers together with the EnLAW Thai Foundation found that the licenses were issued illegally such as:
The project is located in a community area and according to the town planning regulations, the community areas are prohibited to construct power plants.
There are more than 30 households living in 300 meters radius from the project site and according to the Notification of ERC regarding site selection, the project site shall be at least 300 meters far from community areas.
It is contrary to Ministerial Regulation No. 2 according to the Factory Act B.E. 2535 regarding the location of factories shall have sufficient area to not cause an impact on communities.
In addition, in the pre-licensing process, a public hearing is required. But the public hearing did not cover the majority of the population in the sensitive area.
For the initial process, there will be an examination and acceptance of the complaint. After that, within 1 month it will be sent to the ERC. It is expected that within 2 years, the preliminary judgment will be announced.