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Thai Dialogue and Site Visits to Operational RE Systems in Thailand

Within the ASEAN region, Thailand is one of the most advanced countries in the utilization of renewable energy sources for power application, particularly biomass. There are several factors that contributed to this, including reliable renewable energy sources, encouraging government policies on renewable energy development and utilization, and accessibility of financing. In order for the Philippine bankers to have a better appreciation of the factors affecting RE development, Thai policy-makers, project developers and representatives of Thai financing institutions were invited to a dialogue.

The Thai Dialogue was envisioned to be the venue for the target banks to learn from the experiences of Thai Financing Institutions active in RE lending and for them to realize that lending to RE projects is profitable. The Dialogue was a good opportunity for the target banks to widen their network in the ASEAN RE industry and get to know some of the key RE stakeholders in Thailand. There was a series of presentations from key Thai industry players and policy makers on current developments in the Thai RE industry. The resource speakers and their presentations were:

• Mr. Chavalit Pichalai
  Energy Conservation Plan 2005-2011
  Energy System Analysis Bureau, EPPO
  Ministry of Energy
• Mr. Somkiat Sutiratana
  Polices and Incentives for Renewable Energy Promotion in Thailand
  Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency
  Ministry of Energy
• Mr. Lars Moller
  Promotions of Renewable Energy technologies: Towards an Action Plan for the Development of RE Market in Thailand
  PRET Project, DEDE
  Ministry of Energy
• Mr. Arthit Vechakij
  Financing RE in Thailand: Viewpoints and Experiences of an ESCO
  EEI
• Mr. Anat Prapasawad
  Financing RE in Thailand: Viewpoint and Experiences of a Thai Bank
  Energy and Environment Business Department, TMB Bank

After the one-day conference with Thai banks and agencies, representatives of the three banks visited two grid-connected RE projects. One is the Dan Chang Bioenergy Project in Suphanburi, and the other the Korat Waste-to Energy plant in Korat. The Dan Chang Bioenergy project is a cogeneration project that provides the steam and electricity requirements of the Mitr Phol sugar mill. The Korat Waste-to-Energy plant is a biogas facility within the Sanguan Wong Industries (SWI) cassava processing plant.