Abstract
Thailand was one of the first Asian countries with a comprehensive feed-in tariff, or adder, program. The program has been in place for six years and gone through successive phases of adjustment, in particular in response to higher-than predicted response by industry in the form of applications submitted for interconnection. As of December 2011, Thailand has about 8,000 megawatts of renewable energy projects in the pipeline seeking adder and about 1,000 megawatts already connected and selling power to the grid. This paper provides an overview of Thailand’s grid-connected renewable energy support with a focus on the adder measure, which has been the major mechanism that drives the growth in Thailand’s renewable energy capacity. The paper discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the adder program and recent policy and regulatory changes that have reduced the program’s effectiveness.
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