Germany's renewable energy firms hold high hopes for the East Asia and Asean markets, especially for the Thai market, where such projects have proliferated.
Jorg Buck, executive director of the German-Thai Chamber of Commerce, said last week that Thailand could be the driving force in Asean, due to its ambitious plan for renewable energy with many promising projects going on from solar to large-scale wind farms.
Thailand's Renewable and Alternative Energy Development Plan has set a goal for renewable and alternative energy to supply 25 per cent of total energy consumption by 2021.
Last week the Energy Conservation Promotion Fund approved Bt2.15 billion for the promotion of renewable energy, of which Bt1.85 billion is for installing solar-power systems with combined capacity of 25 megawatts on the rooftops of 2,000 state agency buildings.