Biomass plan headed for failure in Thailand

Bangkok Post, Thailand --Aug. 16

Aug. 16--New power plants using biomass and other forms of renewable energy sources to account for 5 percent of electricity production after 2011 as mandated by the government are unlikely to materialise due to a low supply of fuel sources.

A supply shortage is expected because certain kinds of biomass -- byproducts of agricultural processing -- would be used up by other industries as raw materials, according to Nathee Sitthiprasart, the executive director of Ratchaburi Power Co.

For example, he said, rice husks would go mainly to ice and brick-making factories while bagasse, wood chips and animal dung would be sources of raw materials for other industries.

In addition, the government's condition requiring that at least 80 percent of local residents support a biomass project in their area imposes the additional cost of an environmental impact assessment, and many power projects already face opposition from local residents.

Ratchaburi Power is the new name for Union Power Development Co, which was forced to scrap plans for a coal-fired power plant planned at Hin Krut, Prachuap Khiri Khan, due to opposition from environmentalists.

As biomass power projects will depend on fuel sources supplied by other producers such as rice husks from rice millers or bagasse from sugar mills, plant operators will not be able to regulate supply or control costs. Rice husks have already become more expensive due to strong demand from existing power plants.

In the case of small hydro-electric plants, Mr Nathee said there are no more suitable areas for developing the projects, and the Irrigation Department is generally opposed to them.

So far, only 20 power plants using biomass and other forms of renewable energy have been licensed to produce 243 megawatts of electricity, representing just 1 percent of total electricity production.

The government has proposed purchasing power produced from biomass and other renewable resources at a higher rate than power from conventional fuels to subsidise the higher start-up costs.

However, Boonchu Direkstaporn, the president of Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc, said the government's price subsidy policy remained unclear.

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