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that expected in April, we could face energy shortages. A possible solution
would be to diversify our energy sources.
In the "Summary of the Thailand Power Development Plan 2012-
2030" (PDP2010: Revision 3), a diversification of energy sources is being
planned for additional production capacity of 55,130 MW by 2030. The
proposed additional capacity will include renewable energy power plants, co-
generation, combined cycle power plants and thermal power plants, which
represent 17 per cent, 12 per cent, 46 per cent and 16 per cent of the added
capacity, respectively. Coal-fired power plants and nuclear power plants are
also proposed, at 4,400 MW and 2,000 MW, respectively.
The level of variety in our energy sources will increase, with a
noticeable increase in alternative energy sources. Within the renewable energy
sector, solar farms are expected to contribute approximately 3,802 MW. What
if we were able to expand the solar energy potential beyond commercial solar
power production? From 2010 data of the National Statistical Office , there
are 14,728,702 detached housing units in the Kingdom. If a quarter of these
installed residential solar panels with an average power capacity of 1 kW, this
could result in total installed capacity of residential solar power at 3,682 MW.
An added benefit of residential solar panels is that most will be able to
produce electricity to feed into the national grid during peak power
consumption.
There's also another huge potential for renewable energy. In 2008,
Thailand collected 41,064 tones of municipal solid waste (MSW) per day.
That's approximately 13 million tons annually. Currently, MSW is being
landfilled. If we were able to sort and utilize a portion of this waste to
produce electricity, we would be able to reduce the amount of waste that
needs to be landfilled and add an energy source to our power production.