Alro forced to respond to ruling on wind farms

By SUTTHIPONG SETTHARANGSI,
PRASIT TANGPRASERT
THE NATION

 

 

THE AGRICULTURAL Land Reform Office (Alro) is seeking alternative solutions after the Supreme Administrative Court ruled that the agency’s decision to rent farming-designated Sor Por Kor land plots in Chaiyaphum province to a private company to construct a wind farm was a misuse of the land.

 

The rental contract revocation affects Thep Sathit Wind Farm Co Ltd, which had invested in “Asean’s largest wind farm” project in Chaiyaphum’s Sap Yai and Thep Sathit districts and sought to expand to the province’s Nong Bua Rawe district. 

 

The decision has created uncertainty for other proposed renewable power-generating projects in the province, with another 17 private companies halting their investments.

 

Full story: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30305635

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-02-04

Wind farms don't even make money in countries that have wind. What a dumb idea from the start.

Plenty of sun - what's wrong with Solar farms.

31 minutes ago, mikebell said:

Plenty of sun - what's wrong with Solar farms.

The problem with solar is very simply that the sun does not shine for roughly 50% of the day. Most people like lights at night after the sun sets.

Won't wind farms effect weather, they are, at least, removing some energy from the wind? I guess if there are enough of them to make a measurable difference.

55 minutes ago, maoro2013 said:

Won't wind farms effect weather, they are, at least, removing some energy from the wind? I guess if there are enough of them to make a measurable difference.

Extremely little effect. Better these than coal fired power stations.

 

With the HUGE increases in solar farms here in Oz , someone will soon suggest they will reflect some sun back to space.    Watch this space.

Edited February 4, 20179 yr by Jing Joe

1 hour ago, canuckamuck said:

Wind farms don't even make money in countries that have wind. What a dumb idea from the start.

Disagree totally at least for Oz .  Here in Oz the wind opposition mainly comes from nearby residents and vested interests in coal. Both solar and wind farms are  expanding considerably.  The State of South Australia closed its last coal fired power station recently.

Should be installed near government house and TAT offices. Plenty of hot air coming from those renewable sources.

1 hour ago, Jing Joe said:

Disagree totally at least for Oz .  Here in Oz the wind opposition mainly comes from nearby residents and vested interests in coal. Both solar and wind farms are  expanding considerably.  The State of South Australia closed its last coal fired power station recently.

How much of that expansion is due to government subsidies though. A large percentage of wind farms in the world are now mothballed. 

Edited February 4, 20179 yr by canuckamuck

How much nutritional value does wind give to use govt-acquired agricultural land for the purpose of private investment on power generation.

 

No need to employ much brain matter to know that's a no-no.

 

Private investors only need to lease land from private farmers for their R&D and profits.

I think the point the article is making is letting a power company rent sor por kor land for a wind farm. I don't know why anyone cares, I think it's a good thing. A company wants to spend their money on renewable energy and the govt gives them some cheap land for it. Seems like a win. If not the wind farm then there will be some corn or cassava planted there netting 1,000bt per rai or something.

Why is this a bad policy?

And I'm not arguing for wind power but a private company is risking their own money so let them try to innovate.

 

4 hours ago, Jing Joe said:

Disagree totally at least for Oz .  Here in Oz the wind opposition mainly comes from nearby residents and vested interests in coal. Both solar and wind farms are  expanding considerably.  The State of South Australia closed its last coal fired power station recently.

And have the highest electricity tariffs in Australia

14 hours ago, rooster59 said:

a misuse of the land

Only if the land is currently being used, ie., crops or livestock. If the property is undeveloped, having a wind farm is a reasonable  use of the land. In retrospect, the new property tax laws were planned to tax property according to its highest potential use. The idea was to force undeveloped land owners to develop property instead of speculating on future development.

 

The Supreme Administrative Court ruling is weak if not incorrect. SOP in Thailand.

17 hours ago, canuckamuck said:

Wind farms don't even make money in countries that have wind. What a dumb idea from the start.

Stuff and nonsense. In Britain, wind farms are making lots of money, both on and offshore. Same across the windier parts of Europe and I suspect the rest of the world. In fact, onshore wind is now the cheapest form of power generation in UK and is a nice little earner for those wise enough to invest at the right time and place. Solar is doing very nicely too. Together and with some tidal thrown in for good measure, they are the future of power generation. One almost feels sorry for the fossil fuel heads with their soon to be stranded assets losing their greasy shirts, for failing to see the future of energy.  Almost. 

I worked as a maintenance technician in a Solar powered radio relay site in Saudi Arabia.

Well designed Solar electric plants have an inverter that charges the battery bank, a backup generator system that starts automatically if the d.c. battery charger fails, and backup alarms that  notify remote located technicians who come to repair any alarms.

A well designed and properly maintained Solar power system can provide reliable 24 hour electrical power even when the Sun does not shine.

Note however the part I highlighted  about the design and maintenance above.

The same can be true about a well designed and properly maintained wind generated power system, but the design and maintenance are the key to a reliable system.

Edited February 4, 20179 yr by IMA_FARANG
Added a coment

20 hours ago, maoro2013 said:

Won't wind farms effect weather, they are, at least, removing some energy from the wind? I guess if there are enough of them to make a measurable difference.

 

Same energy. Just converting velocity pressure or kenetic energy into heat.

19 hours ago, Jing Joe said:

Disagree totally at least for Oz .  Here in Oz the wind opposition mainly comes from nearby residents and vested interests in coal. Both solar and wind farms are  expanding considerably.  The State of South Australia closed its last coal fired power station recently.

Perhaps you should catch up. The latest proposal from the federal government is to invest in clean coal power stations.

1 hour ago, IMA_FARANG said:

I worked as a maintenance technician in a Solar powered radio relay site in Saudi Arabia.

Well designed Solar electric plants have an inverter that charges the battery bank, a backup generator system that starts automatically if the d.c. battery charger fails, and backup alarms that  notify remote located technicians who come to repair any alarms.

A well designed and properly maintained Solar power system can provide reliable 24 hour electrical power even when the Sun does not shine.

Note however the part I highlighted  about the design and maintenance above.

The same can be true about a well designed and properly maintained wind generated power system, but the design and maintenance are the key to a reliable system.

And if mains power was available, no matter how generated, would anybody in their right mind set up such a system?

20 hours ago, Jing Joe said:

Disagree totally at least for Oz .  Here in Oz the wind opposition mainly comes from nearby residents and vested interests in coal. Both solar and wind farms are  expanding considerably.  The State of South Australia closed its last coal fired power station recently.

You do recall last year that entire state went into blackout for days, don't you?

 

Wind power has tremendous downsides apopro of other renewables, not the least is its own carbon footprint. The subsidies are pushing taxes beyond experimental technology too.