Thailand’s National Energy Policy Committee approves expansion of mass solar power generation plan

China News Service, Bangkok, September 18 (Li Yingmin, Wang Qi) Thailand's National Energy Policy Committee approved the expansion of public solar power generation plan on the 18th, expanding the cumulative power purchase target from the original 5,000 MW to 10,000 MW, and stipulated that the purchase price for residents to sell solar power surplus to the power grid is 2.20 baht per unit, and the purchase period is 20 years.

The National Energy Policy Committee stated that the People's Solar Plan will cover rooftop photovoltaics, ground photovoltaics and floating photovoltaics, and adopt a "net billing" model that allows residents to generate electricity for their own use while selling surplus power to the grid.

New users participating in the project can declare a maximum power capacity of 5 kilowatts per meter for sale. For users who have previously participated in the People's Solar Plan, the remaining electricity purchase period has been extended from the original 10 years to 20 years. This move allows residents to not only become electricity consumers, but also participate in electricity production.

The National Energy Policy Committee agreed on the same day to use part of the excess earnings of the power system to raise approximately 16.1 billion baht to reduce the burden of electricity bills from September to December 2026, and to set a cap on the price of natural gas for power generation.

The Thai government hopes to reduce its dependence on petrochemical energy and promote the transformation of the energy structure by expanding the use of renewable energy such as solar energy.