BANGKOK, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- Thailand on Tuesday launched a 50-billion-baht (about 1.48 billion U.S. dollars) program to subsidize solar installations for 1 million households, allowing homes to generate their electricity and sell any surplus to the national grid.
Under the "People's Solar" program approved by the cabinet the same day, the government will provide support of up to 50,000 baht (about 1,480 dollars) per household. It is estimated that the program will cut household power bills by more than 24.5 billion baht (about 725 million dollars) a year in total.
During the launch event, Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul said the scheme is both an energy measure and an economic and social measure that will raise incomes, cut expenses, build savings, and tangibly improve quality of life.
The state-owned Metropolitan Electricity Authority and Provincial Electricity Authority will run the program as one-stop service centers, handling registration and grid connection, with installations carried out by the two authorities or registered vendors. ■
