Thailand offers US$1.5 billion in subsidies for household solar panels
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The Thai government offered up to US$1.5 billion in subsidies to help households install solar panels.
Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas announced the move to increase the use of renewable energy and decrease the country's reliance on expensive energy imports. The government plans to fund these subsidies through a 400-billion-baht emergency borrowing package created to manage economic impacts from the war in the Middle East.
Officials expect the cabinet to approve the plan on Tuesday, which will allow residents to begin applying for the funding shortly after. Thailand currently generates about 60 percent of its electricity from natural gas, while renewables account for nearly 11 percent of production. Because domestic gas production is declining, the country has increased its imports of liquid natural gas from places like Qatar.
The government aims to reach a goal where 51 percent of domestic electricity comes from renewable sources by 2037.
