Thailand

New PV capacity additions in Southeast Asia are expected to bounce back this year for the first time since 2020, according to the Asian Photovoltaic Industry Association. The market is expected to grow by 13% in 2023, for 3.8 GW of new installations.

A group of German companies plans to set up a 500 MW electrolyzer for a 1 GW green hydrogen project in the North Sea. US scientists, meanwhile, have engineered a light-activated nanomaterial to convert ammonia into hydrogen, and Canadian researchers have unveiled a new way to structure catalysts for fuel cells.

In an unexpected move, the government of Thailand has introduced a feed-in-tariff (FIT) of THB 2,1679 ($0.057)/kWh over 25 years for solar and a 25-year FIT of THB 2,8331/kWh for solar plus storage.

While near neighbors, the electricity generation of the countries of Southeast Asia couldn’t be further apart. Indonesia burns locally mined coal; Malaysia has reserves of oil and gas; and populous Singapore, Vietnam, and the Philippines depend on fossil fuel imports. They could all benefit from increased solar electricity but higher grid capacities and interconnection are key for an opportunity to unlock the power of the sun.

Indonesia will have to get to work installing more than 24 GW of solar this year – and every year – if the region is to achieve the 2.1 TW to 2.4 TW of photovoltaics Irena has estimated it will require to achieve a net zero carbon energy system by 2050.

In Thailand, the 7-Eleven convenience store chain uses PV systems at its shops to lower its electricity consumption. Cristobal Chin, the CEO of Chow Energy, shared his thoughts on these projects.

The Energy Market Authority has already attracted proposals for 1.2 GW of renewable electricity, to be generated in four southeast Asian nations, and wants to raise that figure to 4 GW by 2035.

One of Southeast Asia’s biggest generators of renewable electricity, Thailand’s CK Power, is set to double in size over the next three years after announcing plans to add 2.8GW of new renewable electricity generation, including a ten-fold increase in its solar capacity.

The Ubol Ratana Dam Hydro-Floating Solar Hybrid Project will have a capacity of 24 MW and will be located the company’s Ubol Ratana Dam in Khok Sung, Ubolratana District.

Researchers in Thailand have developed an anti-reflective and anti-soiling coating for commercial solar modules that is claimed to increase power yield by over 6%. The coating has photocatalytic properties that make the organic compounds adsorbed on the solar module surface decompose, thus preparing them to be easily washed off by rainwater.