Thailand will expand its household solar power program to 10 gigawatts (GW) and buy excess electricity from participants per kilowatt-hour under a 20-year contract, a government official.
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Thailand's National Energy Policy Council has raised the maximum capacity for its "community solar" scheme to 10 GW, enough for about one million households, from an initial proposal of 5 GW, said Lalida Periswiwatana, deputy government spokeswoman.
Purchases will be made on a net billing basis, she said. Households will use their own generated electricity first and sell only excess electricity, capped at 5 kilowatts per meter, she added. Contract terms were extended from 10 years to 20 years to align with the panels' lifespan, with the additional capacity covering the period from 2026 to 2028.
Households can now also install panels on land and water, not just rooftops, she said.
The National Energy Policy Council gave the energy ministry, the interior ministry, and the three state electricity utilities one month to develop a grid readiness plan that includes generation forecasting, real-time monitoring, transmission and distribution control, and battery storage.
Increasing capacity to 10 GW will give communities a greater role in producing clean energy, but this step must go hand in hand with grid readiness so that the additional capacity does not compromise the security of the electricity system, Lalida said.
The deputy spokesperson said that relevant institutions were also asked to find ways to amend existing 10-year contracts, so that previous participants would not have to cancel and reapply. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Industry was tasked with developing a panel and battery recycling plan.
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