Waste-to-energy plants are generating 135.48 megawatts

BANGKOK, March 4 (TNA) -- Waste-to-energy plants are generating 135.48 megawatts of electricity in Thailand and authorities expect community waste will fuel the generation of 500 megawatts and industrial waste 50 megawatts within 2036. Chavalit Pichalai, deputy permanent secretary for energy, said that waste-to-energy projects were making progress and the 135.48MW power came from community waste. The Energy Ministry expected to buy 348MW from community waste and 10MW from industrial waste next year, he said. The Energy Policy and Planning Board already set feed-in tariffs for electricity generated from community and industrial waste and the Energy Ministry and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment worked out a master plan for national waste management for implementation between 2015 and 2019, Mr Chavalit said. The implementation of the master plan has been resulting in important waste management projects and plans including decentralised community waste management and provincial waste-to-energy projects. Besides, the Energy Ministry is pushing for regulation amendments to facilitate waste-to-energy projects, supporting local administration organisations in having knowledge on such projects and proper waste management and taking part in it, and encouraging electricity state enterprises to buy power generated from waste. The ministry is also planning zones of renewable energy and prioritising energy from waste. (TNA)