Producing electricity from wind power in Northeast Thailand
Context
Thailand’s energy, like in most countries, has historically been produced by burning fossil fuels. However, as new regulations are introduced to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, Thailand is producing more energy from renewable sources, including wind power.
The demand for energy in Thailand is also expected to increase by 78% by 2036, so there is an urgent need to increase the amount of energy Thailand can produce, with a growing proportion of this energy coming from renewable sources.
In 2018, around 10% of Thailand’s energy (45,000MW) was generated from renewable sources, mainly solar power. Of this amount, only 1,018MW came from wind power, but wind power is set to play an increasingly large role in generating Thailand’s power in the coming years.
With a predicted Compound Annual Growth Rate of just under 5%, Thailand’s Wind Energy Market is set to have 7GW (7,000MW) of installed energy generation capacity by 2037. The wind power sector is projected to create 5,000 to 10,000 jobs by 2050.
Project
This wind power project bundles the West Huaybong 2 and West Huaybong 3 wind farms, which together will generate over 500,000 MWh of electricity every year and feed it into Thailand’s national grid.
By replacing electricity generated from fossil fuel fired power plants with renewable electricity generated using wind power, these two wind farms will prevent around 250,000 tonnes of CO2 from being emitted into the atmosphere every year.
This project provides 80 jobs to local people who operate the two wind power plants, as well as providing local support, development and activities annually, including community festivals, educational projects, and sports days.
Verification
This project is verified by the Gold Standard. You can view it on the Gold Standard registry here and here.
Climate Solution #2
Onshore wind turbines
Onshore wind turbines generate electricity at a utility scale, comparable to power plants. They replace fossil fuels with emissions-free electricity.
Today, 314,000 wind turbines supply nearly 4 percent of global electricity, and it will soon be much more. In 2015, a record 63 gigawatts of wind power were installed around the world.
Onshore wind farms have small footprints, typically using no more than 1 percent of the land they sit on, so grazing, farming, recreation, or conservation can happen simultaneously with power generation. What’s more, it takes one year or less to build a wind farm—quickly producing energy and a return on investment.