Saha turns to solar cells for savings

The Saha Group has initiated a solar-cell project to reduce its oil consumption by at least 1 per cent this year.

The group is one of Thailand's largest manufacturing and trading conglomerates.

Chairman Boonsithi Chokwatana said his company, which has more than 300 factory and office operations, has applied solar cells as a key alternative energy to replace oil. "We're considering setting up a solar-cell production plant in Thailand," he said.

The group has started importing solar cells from China. They were installed at the group's Sahacogen power-plant subsidiary in Chon Buri in March to provide electricity in the office area. Sahacogen is the pilot company to introduce solar technology.

A Sahacogen executive said the new solar-energy project would reduce the greenhouse effect by cutting 19.1 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. This translates into a reduction of 10,496 tonnes of crude-oil consumption per annum.

Sahacogen has its own subsidiary called Sahacogen Green, which is currently working on other green energy sources from tapioca and corn.

The group has urged the government to speed up introduction of a nuclear power plant here, in order to increase alternative energy sources for the Kingdom, which now relies heavily on oil imports.

The Saha Group is working in coordination with Japanese-based Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the world's leading builder of nuclear power plants.

Hiroki Takimoto, engineering manager for Mitsubishi's Nuclear Department, said the Japanese have accepted nuclear power plants as very safe. They provided a huge amount of energy with low carbon dioxide discharge.

Takimoto said there were now 435 nuclear power plants in 31 countries around the world, including the US, France, Germany, Russia, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea, China and Taiwan.

Next Wednesday, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and the Saha Group will host a seminar on nuclear power for the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. The objective is to promote a solid understanding about the future construction of a nuclear power plant based on Japanese technology and safety procedures.

He said the cost of a 600-megawatt nuclear power plant would start at US$1.8 billion (Bt60.45 billion).

"Many countries around the world are trying to reduce carbon credits, and Thais should be aware of the dilution of carbon credits through reductions in petrol consumption," said Boonsithi.

He suggested the Thai government set a national target for the amount of petrol to be saved annually.