REC revs up 6 solar plants in Thailand

Capacity hits a whopping 72MW.

According to a release, European solar panel supplier REC announced the starting operation of six REC-powered solar plants in Thailand, in Nakhon Pathom and Suphan Buri provinces, totalling 72 MW. Owned and operated by Yanhee EGCO Holding, this project brings the number of utility-scale installations with REC solar panels in Thailand to seven, and generates enough power for approximately 40,000 Thai households.

Over 11 months of construction, 292,608 REC Peak Energy solar panels with 245 Wp and 250 Wp were ground-mounted over a total area of 1,175 rai (1.88 km2) in this greenfield project. All the electricity produced – 103 GWh per year – is sold to Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) under a Very Small Power Producer (VSPP) contract, reducing the country’s CO2 footprint by over 59,000 metric tons*.

“We are excited to be part of this large-scale project in Thailand with Yanhee EGCO,” says Jenvit Jivakulchainan, Country Manager at REC in Thailand. “This project reaffirms our market leadership in the region with total REC installations of 86 MW in Thailand. We at REC have worked hard to strengthen our presence in the growing Thai market. In 2013, around 15% of our MW shipments went to Southeast Asia, with Thailand being one of the key markets for REC. We expect Thailand to remain most attractive country in this region.”

The project in the Nakhon Pathom and Suphan Buri provinces is EGCO’s first-ever installation using REC solar panels. Vichan Sripairoj, General Manager, EGCO, affirms that REC solar panels were an excellent choice: “We selected solar panels by REC owing to their reliability and efficiency, both of which are backed by strong warranties on product quality and power output. In a project on this scale, the efficiency and reliability of the solar panels are the key to delivering the expected return on investment while also generating clean, renewable energy for the country.” As one of the region's highest performing solar power installations, the new six-plant project points the way forward for the country's solar sector, with the efficiency of REC solar panels optimizing the land use by providing higher yields.

As one of the first countries in Asia to launch incentive schemes for renewable power generation, Thailand remains one of the region’s most attractive countries for project investment. Despite the gradual phase-out of the first incentive schemes, which offered premiums on feed-in tariffs to incentivise new solar installa­tions, Thailand has pledged fresh support for solar power, introducing preferential feed-in tariffs for rooftop and ground-mounted solar systems. With the country targeting a solar capacity of 3 GW by 2021, large-scale utility projects such as the six EGCO plants are fully aligned with the country’s strategic direction for generating more energy from renewable sources and reduce its dependency on electricity imports. By 2021, Thailand targets renewable energies reaching 25% of its total electricity mix.