The Royal Thai Government is taking further steps to tap Thailand’s abundant solar potential. Not only has the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) recently designed a policy package to promote Photovoltaic (PV) installations, but Thailand is also looking to use the energy from the sun for solar thermal applications in the commercial and industrial sector. The demand for hot water or cooling in hospitals and hotel complexes or steam for industrial production processes in Thailand is growing steadily, and can be easily covered with solar thermal technology. The goal of the Ministry of Energy is to have about 300,000 sq.m of solar collector area installed between 2012 and 2021. Attractive investment grants of currently up to 25% for solar hot water systems support reaching this target by increasing the economic viability of the projects. About 46,000 sq.m of collector area were installed between 2008 and 2013.

But although demand and potential for solar thermal applications is high, investors are hesitant because projects in the past often failed due to the use of low-quality products and unprofessional installation and maintenance. To address this matter, the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce (GTCC) together with the German International Cooperation (GIZ) organized the “German-Thai Technology Conference: Solar Thermal Solutions for the Industrial and Commercial Sector” on October 15, 2013. During the event, German and Thai experts analysed how quality installations can be ensured, and how performance monitoring of solar thermal systems can be achieved. Looking towards future business cooperation between Germany and Thailand, German companies presented their high-quality product solutions for solar hot water, steam and cooling.

The conference was part of a comprehensive AHK business trip for four German companies coming to Thailand taking place between 14-18 October 2013 organized by GTCC with support from PDP under the “renewables – Made in Germany” initiative of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology. During the trip, the German companies met with possible Thai business partners to discuss future projects and modes of cooperation, they received information about business support from the Board of Investment (BOI), and visited three solar thermal applications already in operation that were supported by DEDE.

Presentation information available upon request.