Bangkok Solar Power, a leading producer of electricity from solar energy, will spend Bt100 million to build a large solar farm in Lop Buri province this year.
It is confident of increasing demand for this kind of renewable energy.
Krisada Chongphaibulpatana, vice president for sales and marketing, said the Lop Buri solar farm would have a generating capacity of 11 megawatts.
Over the past year, Bangkok Solar Power has been building solar farms in Nakhon Ratchasima and Prachuap Khiri Khan provinces, with capacities of 1.1MW and 1.5MW, respectively. The two solar farms will be completed this year.
The company has been operating six solar farms since 2003. Two of them are in Udon Thani province, with capacities of 285 kilowatts and 1.5MW.
The others are Chachoengsao, Angthong, Phetchaburi and Nakhon Sawan provinces, with capacities of 1.49MW, 1MW, 2.1MW and 0.5MW, respectively.
Krisada said the company had a contract with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to supply 40MW of electricity generated from solar energy. It will reach a generating capacity of 20MW this year.
The government plans to have 500MW of electricity generated from solar energy by 2022. At present, many private firms are building solar farms around the country, including Solar Power, Bangchak and Electricity Generating (Egco).
Egco's solar farm will have a capacity of 55MW and that of Bangchak 30MW.
Bangkok Solar Power expects to reach break-even point with its solar farms within 12 years.
Krisada said the company also installed solar farms for private firms. Last year, it signed a contract with one company to build a solar farm with a capacity of 150MW. The farm is scheduled for completion within three years.
The company is also negotiating with many firms and expects to install solar farms with a combined capacity of 300MW over the next few years, he said.
Moreover, Bangkok Solar Power has established a subsidiary in Germany to provide the same kind of services in Europe. At present, the German firm - Bangkok Solar Power - is installing solar farms in Germany, France and Italy, with a combined capacity of 100MW.
