Army THE ROYAL THAI ARMY : Promotion project of the usage of sustainable renewable energy in the remote areas of Chiang Mai province.

paisanjr · Oct 28, 2021

THE ROYAL THAI ARMY : Promotion project of the usage of sustainable renewable energy in the remote areas of Chiang Mai province.

Nowadays, Thailand still has many villages in remote areas. The border areas in the North still lack the primary public health system needed for stable living and occupation, especially in Chiang Mai, which has a total area of 20,107 square kilometers, or 12,566,911 rai, with the first big area in the northern region. The topography, in general, is mountainous and lush forests with plains in the middle along both sides of the Ping River. There are complex high mountains, with mountainous areas accounting for about 80 percent of the province, mostly are forests upstream. Some areas are residential areas of various ethnic hill tribes, which still lack the primary public health system needed in many areas.
The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) received a budget from the Energy Conservation and Promotion Fund for the fiscal year 2018-2019 to build a prototype of a community power plant in remote areas, which are ready to supply electricity to the central location in the community. The renewable energy project (SOLAR CELL) is divided into two types: 1) an operation that is not connected to the Provincial Electricity Authority and aims to operate in remote areas where electricity is inaccessible, such as Omkoi, and 2) the remote areas where can be reached by electricity but it has no stability, such as Ban Muang Kong of Chiang Dao. The SOLAR CELL system will help the electricity in the area to be more stable.
It is then delivered to the Sub-district Administrative Organization to participate in the community process in supplying electricity to households and setting up rules for the use of electricity in the area to be sustainable for their livelihoods. People in remote areas have a better quality of life, together with the process of building knowledge and understanding of technology together with the community and to establishing concrete community electricity funds, namely:
1. Omkoi in Chiang Mai Province
Centre for Resolution of Security Problems in Omkoi (CRSPO) is an agency for solving problems of opium cultivation and planning to meet basic needs for people so that they can be self-reliant, develop a quality of life, and reduce social inequality. The ISOC has created a pilot prototype and guidelines for promoting community power plants in areas without electricity. The target areas for the operation consisted of 5 villages: Ban Pha An, Ban Jok Pok, Ban Huai Kai Pa, and Ban Muser Lang Muang, with a total population of 1,565 people and 460 households. Furthermore, the CRSPO installed a solar power generation system (not less than 210 kW), an energy storage system (840 kWh), and set up a community electricity network with a distance of 4,500 meters, 120 solar power poles, and supply electricity to the center of the community for connecting electricity to the households. The project implementation also focuses on the cost-effective and sufficient use of electricity to improve the basic quality of life for communities in remote areas and bring about balance lifestyle changes.
At present, Ban Pha-An, Ban Jok Pok, and Ban Huai Kai Pa established a community electricity fund and distributed electricity to households in May 2021 and delivered the system to Mae Tuen Sub-district Administrative Organization, the Organization Sop Khong Sub-district Administration, and Mon Jong Sub-district Administrative Organization on August 27, 2021. Anyhow, ISOC, ISOC3, CRSPO, and SAO cooperated to integrate for the success of the project that will be concretely a prototype of a community power plant in the areas without electricity.
2. Muang Kong Sub-district in Chiang Dao
Muang Kong sub-district is a remote community in Chiang Dao. It is 115 kilometers from Chiang Mai province, with a 3,947 population and 1,438 households. People who live in Muang Kong sub-district and remote areas face a power outage problem due to the transmission lines lying across forest areas. When electric equipment is damaged, the activities that require electricity are interrupted. It is an obstacle to the life of the government sector, private sector, and public sector. As a result of the problems, we saw the importance of problem relief and offered the project through ISOC asked for the installation of a 400-kW solar power generation system, high-efficiency energy storage with a capacity of 1,000 kWh, a community electricity network of more than 1,000 meters, and 100 power poles in 5 target areas; Ban Mai Health Promoting Hospital, Muang Kong Subdistrict Administrative Organization, Ban Muang Kong School, Ban Wang Mariu School, and Doi Sam Muen School. Currently, the installation of a power system is done and is in the process of distributing to the community.
The handover of the said system to the Muang Kong Sub-district Administrative Organization has been carried out already on September 10, 2021. ISOC, ISOC3 with the Electricity Generating Authority and Muang Kong Sub-district Administrative Organization, will integrate the project success that will be a prototype for the power system stability in remote areas that experienced power outages concretely.