DuPont Apollo, Ltd. a wholly owned subsidiary of DuPont, recently announced two new contracts to supply Thailand with a total of 22.75 megawatts (MW) of power generated by silicon-based thin film photovoltaic (PV) solar modules. The PV modules will be used for utility solar projects located in Chaiyaphum Province and Saraburi Province respectively owned by Smart Green Energy and Infinite Green, further contributing to renewable energy development in Thailand.
At a media briefing held at the DuPont Thailand Innovation Centre, DuPont reaffirmed its support for Thailand’s 10-Year Alternative Energy Development Plan (AEDP Master Plan 2012-2021). “Together with our PV partners here, we all share a common mission and vision: to support and contribute to Thailand’s economic expansion and to meet growing electricity demand in a way that will generate less greenhouse gas (GHG) emission than if the country were to depend solely on oil and gas. The aim is to help the country to gain more energy independence and lessen economic pressure from the price fluctuation of imported fuels,” commented Somchai Laohverapanich, managing director, DuPont Thailand.
Thailand has a 10-Year Alternative Energy Development Plan (REDP) to drive the national economy and build up national energy security in parallel during 2012-2021 aiming to attain a renewable energy mix of 25 percent of overall energy consumption. The country is currently consuming a large amount of imported energy such as oil and gas. According to the Ministry of Energy, Thailand’s average solar radiation intensity is about 18.2 MJ/m2/day and it shows the country has great potential for developing solar energy to reduce the dependency on imported energy and reduce GHG emissions to help ease the global warming issue.During the media briefing, Chuck Xu, chief executive officer of DuPont Apollo described how the company’s innovative solar solutions can bring greater value to customers.
“While hot and humid regions like Thailand present a challenge to many solar panel designs, silicon-based thin film PV modules from DuPont Apollo demonstrate significant advantages in this type of environment, with higher energy yield and reliability that contribute to improved returns on customer's investments,” said Xu. “Through works such as the 8.7 MW L Solar 1 PV project, which has been grid connected for more than half a year, DuPont Apollo continues to build on its track record of reliability and performance from its PV modules and system solutions.”
DuPont Apollo collaborated with L Solar 1, a joint venture led by Loxley, on an 8.7 MW ground-mounted solar farm in Prachin Buri Province, which is under Thailand’s adder tariff program. It was the first MW scale project DuPont Apollo has collaborated with a local partner and it has laid a significant milestone for both companies to accelerate the use of solar energy in Thailand. The solar farm project has demonstrated a record high and stable performance ratio since its grid-connected operation in September 2011. “We are thrilled by the remarkable system power performance enabled by the DuPont Apollo PV modules and we are confident our long-term investment is secured with the reliable modules,” said Piboon Piboontum, managing director of L Solar 1 Co., Ltd.
“DuPont Apollo will continue to collaborate with our selected partners to advance our technologies and develop new PV applications to suit Thailand's climate conditions and support its needs for more sustainable energy solutions. We are pleased to collaborate with Smart Green Energy and Infinite Green, respectively, to develop new solar farm projects that will provide clean energy to the thriving Thai economy and further help reduce global dependence on fossil fuels," concluded Xu.
