In 2019, Thailand issued its latest Power Development Plan guiding the country towards its vision of Energy 4.0, by integrating disruptive energy technologies and systems throughout the power sector, with the share of non-fossil fuels in Thailand’s total power output increasing to 35% by 2037. The Government of Thailand launched a household solar rooftop scheme with a target of 100 MW per year from 2019-2027 for households and plans to increase distributed PV to 1,000 MW per year from 2028 until 10,000 MW in 2037.
Thailand is a leading country in terms of advanced policy and regulatory frameworks for renewable energy development, and has implemented various policy incentives to support renewable power. In 2018, USAID Clean Power Asia supported policy development for distributed photovoltaics through stakeholder engagement and policy impact analysis and we are currently providing technical assistance to the Office of Energy Regulatory Commission on the development of regulatory standards for Battery Energy Storage Systems.
USAID Clean Power Asia developed guidelines for solar rooftop project development in Thailand and partnered with Big C Supercenter, a major retailer, and Thai Union, an international food company, leading to more than 30 MW of installed capacity at their facilities. Last year, we co-organized a roundtable with Thai energy officials to discuss the potential for a higher wind energy target, contributing to announcements by the Minister of Energy of plans to accelerate procurement of wind energy for a total of 270 MW by 2024.