|
|
| • EXCH RATES |
|
Baht/$ 33.49/53
Bid/Ask
|
GOLD |
14,000
- 150
|
|
Wind and solar power could help cut costs
NAREERAT WIRIYAPONG
The Charoen Pokphand Group, Thailand's top agribusiness conglomerate, is considering developing wind-and solar-power projects to save costs and maintain profitability amid a sharp rise of energy prices. CP is moving toward renewable energy after successfully reducing consumption by 20% with savings totalling 1.5 billion baht through energy-saving measures across the organisation over three years.
So far, CP has invested 500 million baht to upgrade production processes and replace machinery in various business units, said senior vice-president Patsharee Congtrakultien.
''We are studying windmill technologies in China and Germany. What we are considering is small windmill units with a capacity of about one to two megawatts each to serve our factories and the communities nearby,'' she said.
For solar energy, Mrs Patsharee said the existing silicon-based technology used in the United States required a high investment cost. Without government subsidies, such installations would take 30 years to break even.
''We are looking for a breakthrough solar energy technology,'' she said. ''The solar cells being developed in China, for example, are a lot cheaper than the US technology.''
Siriporn Sailasuta, an adviser to CP's corporate energy-saving office, said the group's energy-saving attempts were now focused on improving productivity by eliminating losses and waste from production.
For example, CP has biomass power projects that use chicken and pig manure, while vegetable oil from food processing is used to make biodiesel to cut refined oil consumption.
''Our energy-saving measures will be implemented more seriously as oil prices remain on the rise toward $200 a barrel and 50 baht a litre in the domestic market,'' said Ms Siriporn, a former chief of the Department of Alternative Energy and Efficiency.
Energy expenditures accounted for 12-15% of the total production cost of agricultural processing companies such as CP, compared to up to 40% in heavy industries such as steel, she added.
Both Mrs Patsharee and Mrs Siriporn urged the government to set strategies for alternative fuel as guidelines for the private sector to follow.
''Take Malaysia as a good example. Our neighbour announced its biodiesel strategies a year after Thailand but now Malaysia has become one of the global leaders in palm-based biodiesel with palm now covering 80% of total plantation area there,'' said Mrs Patsharee.
To promote ethanol, Mrs Siriporn said the government should focus on using cassava rather than sugarcane as the main raw material.
The yield per rai of cassava grown in Thailand is quite high, while that of sugarcane is only 12 tonnes per rai compared to 25 tonnes in the US.
''If we can cut energy costs, we will be able to maintain prices of products amid rising oil prices, so our profitability would be less affected,'' said Mrs Patsharee.
Prev
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Next
