The Waste-to-Energy Trade Association (WETA) is calling on energy policymakers to speed up the second-phase development of the waste-to-energy scheme in order to help the country make use of unwanted waste.
The waste-to-energy scheme, also known as WTE, uses both community and industrial waste as fuel to produce electricity and heat which is required during manufacturing processes.
The first phase of the WTE ran between 2016 and 2020.
WETA, which comes under the Federation of Thai Industries, made the latest call to the government after the Industry Ministry and Energy Ministry signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) in February this year on the scheme, with waste to come from the industrial sector.
The Energy Policy and Planning Office and the Energy Regulatory Commission will consider awarding WTE licences to eligible firms via an auction. The bidding date has not been set, but under the MoU, officials are required to complete the process to grant licences as soon as possible.
WETA chairman Montri Wiboonrat said WTE project developers must carefully select construction sites to avoid a shortage of fuel supply, which once happened to those developing and operating biomass-fired power plants.
He suggested WTE power plants be located outside industrial estates which usually have their own fossil-fired power plants. Industrial complexes also have limited infrastructure to support WTE projects.
The state set a target to produce 600 megawatts of electricity under WTE, with 200MW from industrial waste and 400MW from community waste.
