2 September 2013
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Narathip Room, Sri Ayudhya Road, Bangkok

Community-based approaches for renewable energy are becoming more and more popular globally. Thailand has been pursuing this path for a while already, and Germany has a lot of experience to offer. What are the success factors for community-based renewable energy deployment, and what experiences can be derived from the development so far? How can local decision-makers calculate local value creation?

These and more questions were explored in a workshop on September 2, 2013 successfully organized by the Royal Thai Embassy in Germany, the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the German Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC) with support of the Royal Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The event aimed at sharing experiences from Germany, and discussing the potential as well as the feasibility of 100% renewable energy villages and regions in Thailand. About 150 participants from the public and private sector participated in the event that was hosted by the Royal Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Bangkok.

After keynote speeches by his excellency Director General Chutintorn Gongsakdi of the Department of International Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Thailand and Mr. Detlef Dauke, Director General Energy Policy, Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology, Germany, experts in the fields of policy support, project development, local action and technologies from Thailand and Germany presented different perspectives on community-based renewable energy development.

Dr. Twarath Sutabutr, Deputy Director General at the Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE) presented the Department’s support mechanisms aimed at the municipal level and stressed the Thai government’s support for bottom-up processes.

Subsequently, Mr. Guido Wallraven from Saerbeck introduced his community-based business model and highlighted success factors. Saerbeck is a very active German community that wants to become energy independent and is building its own energy park with more than 29MW produced from 7 windturbines, 2 biogas plants and solar panels. After that, Thai experts from local communities presented what action is already being taken in Thailand on the community level in frontrunner regions like Mae Hong Son Province, Samui Island and Kamphaeng Phet. Furthermore, technology solutions for replacing LPG with biogas or the successful integration of photovoltaic into the grid were discussed.

Overall, the event was a great kick-off for a Thai-German cooperation on community-based renewables. As a result opportunities for cooperation between Thai and German communities are now being discussed in more detail in order to foster a Thai-German energy partnership and exchange of know-how on the community level.

Call for Comments: We are very interested in your feedback on this event. If you are interested in cooperating with us in this field, if you have questions or suggestions, or if you have comments on the presentations or any aspect of the workshop please email us or send us the evaluation form.

Presentation information available upon request.