Varawut calls for 50% government subsidy on solar rooftops to reduce power bills
Chart Thai Pattana Party leader Varawut Silpa-Archa has suggested a 50 per cent subsidy on the installation cost of solar rooftops as an incentive for more people to invest in renewable energy and solve the energy crisis.
He was speaking at an election campaign on Thursday.
Varawut added that the new government must also streamline regulations to allow the public to conveniently sell surplus electricity to the government, as the current regulations involve too many conditions and a lengthy application period.
“As for a long-term solution, we need to develop our battery system to be more efficient and sustainable to store and distribute renewable energy that we produce, either from solar or wind energy,” said Varawut, who serves as Minister of Natural Resources and Environment.
This is the only way to reduce the country’s reliance on imported fuels to produce electricity, which are currently responsible for 70% of electricity cost, he added.
Varawut also said that currently the government must pay compensation to private power producers for electricity that it did not buy during a specific period. Both parties should discuss the possibility of reducing this compensation, or prolonging the contract period to reduce the state’s financial burden.
“This move could help reduce people’s power bill by 0.5 to 0.8 baht per unit,” he added.
“Due to the El Nino phenomenon that accelerates climate change, the summer of next year will likely be hotter than this year,” said Varawut. “The new government must prepare a plan to reduce people’s power bills due to the spike in energy consumption. This 50-50 solar rooftop scheme is a quick fix that we need and it should be implemented as soon as possible.”
Chart Thai Pattana aims to be in the government coalition by winning at least 17 MP seats in the upcoming election: 12 from constituencies and five from the party-list system.
