The government’s policy to support solar-power stations on rooftops has received overwhelming interest, as more than 1,000 households and businesses yesterday submitted their project proposals on the first day of applications.
Direk Lavansiri, chairman of the Energy Regulatory Commission, said the prospective suppliers started queuing up at 4am before the doors opened at 9am.
Submissions will be accepted until October 11 at the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) and the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA). The names of qualified sellers will be revealed on October 14.
Under the initial quota of 200 megawatts, half will come from households and half from businesses and factories. The PEA will purchase 120MW and the MEA the rest.
More than 800 businesses and households submitted project proposals to the PEA, of which more than 400 are in the Central region, 90 in the South, 120 in the North and 175 in the Northeast.
Each proposed to sell between 500 kilowatts and 1MW. More than 300 businesses and households made proposals to the MEA.
Bangchak Petroleum made the most proposals. It plans to install solar farms on 100 of its fuel stations nationwide with the capacity of 11-15kW each.
Direk said it was up to the government whether it would purchase more electricity if the proposals exceed 200MW.