Royal Forest Department, Forest Industry Organization, and EGAT team up to develop a community power plant project
21 September 2021Royal Forest Department, Forest Industry Organization, and EGAT signed an MOU on community power plant development to improve the quality of life of the people. The three organizations will integrate their knowledge to develop Mae Chaem Community Power Plant in Chiang Mai Province to be a model of power projects participated by locals and to sustainably drive local economy.
On September 16, 2021, Mr. Adisorn Nuchdamrong, Director General of the Royal Forest Department; Mr. Sukit Chanthong, Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Forest Industry Organization; and Dr. Jiraporn Sirikum, Deputy Governor – Strategy of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) on the community power plant development. The MOU aims to support academic knowledge, energy-crop field trial, and research on community power plant business model, which further enhance energy crop cultivation, increase green space, reduce monoculture farming that is a cause of air pollution, create income from agricultural waste and employment opportunities, and improve the quality of life of the locals.
EGAT Deputy Governor said that EGAT is studying and developing the community power plant business model as assigned by the Ministry of Energy totaling two projects, namely a 3 MW biogas power plant in Thap Sakae District, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province and a 3 MW biomass power plant in Mae Chaem District, Chiang Mai Province by integrating water-food-energy nexus. The projects aim to solve environmental, economic, and social issues, which will further drive local economy, and create a model that will be expanded to other potential areas in the future. The cooperation with the Royal Forest Department and the Forest Industry Organization will contribute to knowledge and resources support which enhances the achievement of the two projects.
The Director General of the Royal Forest Department said that Mae Chaem District in Chiang Mai Province, the site where EGAT is developing a community power plant, is mostly situated in the national reserved forest which the locals enter for monoculture farming, resulting in environmental impacts that include chemical contamination, drought from deforestation, and air pollution from agricultural waste burning. Therefore, Mae Chaem Community Power Plant Project will not only supply electricity to the community but also solve the issues in the area. Planting fast-growing energy crop and restoring headwaters will bring abundance to the ecosystem and sustainable happiness to the locals.
The Deputy Director and Acting Director of the Forest Industry Organization said that Mae Chaem Community Power Plant is a part of the research project on community power plant business model which is in the process of research on energy crop, environment, economy, society, and technology to be a prototype for community power plants in various areas. Human resources and knowledge support, advices about planting fast-growing energy crop, and support on plant-growing field trial to select suitable species will enhance the project achievement.
This MOU will last five years and integrate expertise from the three organizations to develop Mae Chaem Community Power Plant that will also be the prototype for other community power plants developed in other areas in the future. The community will play a part in energy ownership, which complies with the government’s policy to upgrade the quality of life of the locals.