The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) is promoting electricity generation among households by facilitating a process to set up on-grid solar power systems, enabling homeowners to sell electricity from rooftop solar panels to the government.
The time needed to connect solar modules with the state grid, operated by state electricity distribution arms Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) and Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), will be shortened, said Khomgrich Tantravanich, secretary-general of the ERC.
Usually connection takes 90-135 days, but the time will be reduced to 30-60 days, he said.
The MEA oversees the state grid in Bangkok, Nonthaburi and Samut Prakan, while the PEA supervises the electricity network in 73 other provinces countrywide.
The ERC will provide advice on solar panel installation, maintenance and decommissioning to encourage households to join the on-grid solar power scheme, said Mr Khomgrich.
The commission wants to encourage more households to produce electricity after the scheme drew less interest than expected from the public last year.
In 2021, the total quota of electricity generation capacity for households originally stood at 50 megawatts, with 15MW through the MEA and 35MW through the PEA.
Only 654 homeowners submitted applications for a combined capacity of 3.13MW.
Since the scheme was initiated in 2019, only 994 homeowners have participated, with a combined capacity of 5.49MW from 2019 to 2021.
According to the ERC, households have become more interested in the scheme in 2022 as the power tariff reaches a record high, which increases electricity bills between May and December this year.
This year the ERC has received applications from 1,000 houses with a combined capacity of 7MW.
The commission set an electricity generation quota for this year at 10MW. The MEA and PEA are allowed to buy power from households at 2.2 baht per kilowatt-hour for 10 years.
Energy authorities plan to grant a 10MW quota each year from 2022 to 2030 in order to achieve a goal of 90MW generated by rooftop solar panels under the revised 2018 national power development plan.
Authorities also set a goal for on-ground solar farms to generate 3,368MW by 2030 -- 2,368MW from solar farms with no batteries and 1,000MW from solar farms with batteries.