Thailand to spend €8.3 million on green cooling projects

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) will promote green cooling technologies that are energy efficient and use natural refrigerants with the 320 million Thai baht (€8.3 million) from the ‘RAC NAMA Fund’. 

 “On behalf of the Thai government, EGAT has taken responsibility for managing the fund to promote the production and use of energy-efficient and climate-friendly cooling technologies,” said Kodshayut Boriboonchatuporn, deputy governor of power plant development at EGAT. “The four main products include domestic refrigerators, commercial refrigerators, chillers and air conditioners.”

The fund comes under the Thailand Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (RAC NAMA) project – financed by Germany and the United Kingdom – and is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GIZ for short). 

“I believe that this RAC NAMA Fund is central to climate change mitigation actions because Thailand is an important regional industry hub for the cooling sector,” said Camilla Fenning, head of the Southeast Asia Climate Change and Energy Network at the British Embassy in Bangkok.

Thailand is the world’s second-largest exporter of air conditioners, most of which are currently using high-GWP HFCs, according to Tim Mahler, country director for Thailand and Malaysia at GIZ. 

Mahler recommends using natural refrigerants instead. “Natural refrigerants are about 100-1,000 times more climate-friendly than widely used synthetic refrigerants,” he explained. “Moreover, using natural refrigerants with innovative RAC appliances could help to cut 5 to 25% of energy costs.” 

Energy reductions from using this equipment will make a significant difference in Thailand, where 50% of the energy consumed comes from the RAC sector, according to the RAC NAMA project.  

The fund will spend 120 million baht (€3.1 million) of the total 320 million baht on “production line conversion, testing equipment and training facilities” and 200 million baht (€5.2 million) on market awareness to encourage households and commercial end users “to use green cooling products,” according to EGAT’s Boriboonchatuporn.