Egat earmarks Bt70 million for three projects under ERC sandbox campaign
The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) has applied to participate in the Energy Regulatory Commission of Thailand’s (ERC) sandbox campaign to test run new technology and innovations in energy, Egat Research and Innovation director Somchai Chokmawiroj said.
“Three projects were approved by the ERC under a budget of Bt70 million,” he said. “They are the Energy is Yours project under cooperation with Q House, Property Perfect and SC Asset; the TU Egat Energy project, which will be carried out with Thammasat University Rangsit Campus, and the Sri Saeng Tham Model under cooperation with Wat Pa Sri Saeng Tham in Ubon Ratchathani.”
Somchai said the three projects focus on providing technology and equipment to promote electricity trading among users (peer to peer) at residential, community (temples, schools) and business levels.
“Egat will also pilot new technology in electricity service calculation called Net Metering or Net Billing, as well as other related innovations such as cloud energy storage, micro-grid and load aggregator systems,” he said.
“The Energy is Yours project is currently under the planning and procurement stage, while the other two are undergoing installation of equipment and are expected to be ready for operation by March 2021.
“We expect to submit a preliminary report to the ERC within the fourth quarter of 2021, while the sandbox campaign will end in April 2022,” he said.
“The projects are expected to advance Egat’s technology and innovation in the next 5-10 years, while the ERC sandbox campaign will help promote more Thai start-ups to become ‘unicorns’, or enterprises with a net worth of over $1 billion [Bt30.03 billion],” he added.
