Section 2: THE ENERGY CONSERVATION PROMOTION ACT, B.E. 2535 (A.D. 1992) AND REGULATIONS RELATED TO ENERGY CONSERVATION

 

2.1 REGULATIONS STIPULATED IN THE ENERGY CONSERVATION PROMOTION ACT (THE ENCON ACT)

2.1.1 The ENCON Act stipulates that owners of designated factories and buildings shall have to implement energy conservation measures. Designation of factories or buildings as being “designated factories” or “designated buildings” shall be made into decrees, according to Section 8 and Section 18 of the ENCON Act.

2.1.2 The Minister to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment is empowered by the ENCON Act to issue Ministerial Regulations according to Sections 9, 11, 19, 22 and 23, under the recommendation of the National Energy Policy Council (NEPC). The important points can be summarized as follows:

Sections 9 and 21: The owner of a designated factory or building must conserve energy, audit and analyze energy utilization in his factory/building, in accordance with the standards, criteria, and procedures as prescribed by the Ministerial Regulations.

Sections 11 and 22: The owner of a designated factory/building shall have the following duties:

Section 19 stipulates about:

Section 23: In order to promote the use of energy-efficient machinery or equipment, the following is stipulated:

2.1.3 According to the ENCON Act, the Energy Conservation Promotion Fund (the ENCON Fund) and the Energy Conservation Promotion Fund Committee (the ENCON Fund Committee) are established, whereby:

Section 24: The sources of the capital and assets of the ENCON Fund are prescribed as follows:

Section 25: The use of the ENCON Fund is stipulated. Designated factories/buildings, manufacturers or distributors of energy-efficient machinery or equipment or materials contributing to energy conservation or other persons interested in energy conservation implementation can apply for grants or subsidies from the ENCON Fund for investment in and operations of energy conservation.

2.1.4 The ENCON Act also contains punishment clauses for those who violate or fail to comply with the Ministerial Regulations. If any owner of a designated factory/building violates or fails to comply with the Ministerial Regulations issued under Sections 9 and 19, the facility owner shall pay the surcharges for use of electricity. Besides, the ENCON Act stipulates other punishment clauses under Sections 53 to 61, concerning provision of false information and failure to comply with the Ministerial Regulations issued under Sections 11 and 22, and Sections 35 to 37 of the ENCON Act.

2.2 DUTIES OF OWNERS OF DESIGNATED FACTORIES/BUILDINGS

According to the ENCON Act, the owner of a designated factory or building shall have to comply with Sections 9, 11, 19 and 22 of the Act, which can be summarized as follows:

2.2.1 Assign at least one person to take a full-time position at each designated factory/building to take full responsibility with regard to energy programs. The facility owner shall report the name of the personnel responsible for energy to the DEDP within 180 days as from the date when the Royal Decrees prescribing designated factories/buildings come into effect, or 300 days after the publication of the Royal Decrees in the Government Gazette.

2.2.2 Submit information on energy production, consumption, and conservation to the DEDP.

2.2.3 Keep records of information on energy consumption and installation or modification of machinery or equipment that affects energy consumption and conservation.

2.2.4 Set energy conservation targets and plans for the designated factory/building and submit to the DEDP.

 2.2.5 Conserve energy, audit and analyze the energy consumption in his factory or building, in compliance with the standards, criteria, and procedures prescribed in the Ministerial Regulations.

2.3 THE ENERGY CONSERVATION PROMOTION FUND

2.3.1 The Energy Conservation Promotion Fund is established under Section 24 of the ENCON Act with the objective of providing support to those who wish to carry out energy conservation activities. At the initial stage, in order to raise a working capital for the ENCON Fund, 1,500 million baht was transferred from the Petroleum Fund on 24 August 1992. In addition, since 1 November 1992 the NEPC had set a remittance rate to be imposed on domestically distributed gasoline, kerosene, diesel and fuel oil at 7 satangs/litre, to be sent to the ENCON Fund. The remittance rate has been adjusted in accordance with the situations of the country. At present, the remittance rate imposed on petroleum products, except for locally distributed liquefied petroleum gas, is 4 satangs/litre; as at the end of the fiscal year 1999, the ENCON Fund has an accumulated capital of about 14,000 million baht.

2.3.2 The main objective of the ENCON Fund is to provide financial support to designated factories and buildings for investment in and operations of energy conservation programs. At the same time, the ENCON Fund can also be used to support other agencies that wish to undertake energy conservation, including activities on renewable energy projects, energy-related research and development, public awareness campaigns, and expenses for management and monitoring of the Energy Conservation Program.

2.4 REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED BUILDINGS

2.4.1 The Royal Decree on Designated Buildings, B.E. 2538 (1995) has been issued under Section 18 of the ENCON Act, which stipulates that designation of any building as a designated building, by type, quantity of energy use and methods of energy utilization in such a building, shall be made into a royal decree. The Royal Decree has been put into force since 12 December 1995.

The key issues of the Royal Decree are as follows:

  1. Designated Buildings are:
    Buildings with energy consumption of more than 1,000 kW or those authorized to install one or more transformers with a total capacity of 1,175 kilovolt-ampere (kVA).
     
    or
     
    Buildings with electricity and/or commercial energy consumption and/or consumption of steam thermal in the past year in a total volume of 20 million megajoules or more of electrical energy equivalent.
  2. The specifications of energy consumption volumes for designated buildings exclude energy generated from renewable energy sources (e.g. firewood, rice husks, bagasse, biomass, hydro, solar and wind) so as to promote more utilization of renewable energy.

2.4.2 There are three Ministerial Regulations on designated buildings, effective since 12 December 1995:

Ministerial Regulation No. 1 is issued under Section 6 and Section 10 of the Act, prescribing the standards, criteria, and procedures for energy conservation in designated buildings.

The key issues of the Ministerial Regulation are divided into four Divisions:

Division 1 stipulates that this Ministerial Regulation shall enforce with designated buildings pursuant to the Royal Decree on Designated Buildings and provides the definitions of “New Building” and “Existing Building” as follows:

"Existing Building" is a building which is completely constructed or under construction or not yet constructed but for which a request for construction permit was submitted before the effective date of the Royal Decree.

"New Building" is a building for which a request for construction permit was submitted after the effective date of the Royal Decree.

Division 2 prescribes the Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) of the building or air-conditioned areas of the building as follows:

  1. The Roof Thermal Transfer Value (RTTV) of both new and existing buildings shall not exceed 25 Watts per square metre of the roof area.
  2. The Overall Thermal Transfer Value (OTTV) of the exterior walls of the building or air-conditioned areas of the building shall comply with the following:
    1. For a new building, not exceeding 45 Watts per square metre of the exterior walls; and
    2. For an existing building, not exceeding 55 Watts per square metre of the exterior walls.
  3. The OTTV of the exterior walls of the building or air-conditioned areas of the building shall be calculated from a weighted average of the total of individual exterior walls or the total of the exterior walls of the air-conditioned areas.

Division 3 prescribes the energy consumption inside the building, including electric lighting inside the building, excluding its parking areas, and the air-conditioning standards inside the building.

Lighting inside the building excluding the parking areas
  1. In case of the electric lighting inside the building, the illumination level for each type of work should be sufficient according to acceptable engineering principles and methods.
  2. The energy consumption of electric lighting equipment in the building, excluding its parking areas, shall not exceed the following levels:
Category of Building 1 Maximum Lighting Load
(W/m2 of Utilized Area)
  1. Offices, hotels, educational institutions and hospitals/recovery centers
  2. Shops, super-markets or shopping centers 2
 16
 
23

1 For a multi-purpose building, the levels shown in the table are to be applied in accordance with its task area usage.

2 Including general electric lighting used for advertisement of goods, except that used for goods store-front display windows.

Air-Conditioning Standards inside the Building

The air-conditioning system to be installed inside the building shall consume power demand per ton refrigeration (TR), at full load or actual load, not exceeding the values in the following table:

1) Water-Cooled Air Conditioner

Types of Cooling Component/Cooling Unit New Buildings
[kW/Ton Refrigeration (TR)]		 Existing Buildings
(kW/TR)
  1. Centrifugal chiller
    max. capacity 250 TR
    more than 250 up to 500 TR
    more than 500 TR
  
0.75
0.70
0.67		  
0.90
0.84
0.80
  1. Reciprocating chiller
    max. capacity 35 TR
    more than 35 TR
  
0.98
0.91		  
1.18
1.10
  1. Package unit
 0.88 1.06
  1. Screw chiller
 0.70 0.84

2) Air-Cooled Air-Conditioner

Types of Cooling Component/Cooling Unit New Buildings
(kW/TR)		 Existing Buildings
(kW/TR)
  1. Centrifugal chiller
    max. capacity 250 TR
    more than 250 TR
  
1.40
1.20		  
1.61
1.38
  1. Reciprocating chiller
    max. capacity 50 TR
    more than 50 TR
  
1.30
1.25		  
1.50
1.44
  1. Package unit
 1.37 1.58
  1. Window/split-typed air-conditioner
 1.40 1.61

Division 4 prescribes the assessment of the thermal transfer value, lighting load value in a building and performance value of the air-conditioning unit.

Ministerial Regulation No. 2 is issued under Section 11 (2) and (3), and Section 22 of the ENCON Act, prescribing the forms and schedule for submission of information on energy consumption and conservation. It also prescribes the criteria for and methods of recording information on energy consumption and installation or modification of machinery or equipment that affects the level of energy consumption and conservation.

The key issues of the Ministerial Regulation are divided into two Divisions:

Division 1: Information Submission. The owner of a designated building shall have to submit a report on monthly energy production, consumption, and conservation to the DEDP every 6 months, i.e. by July and by January each year, using the Form Bor Por Oor 1.

Division 2: Information Recording. The owner of a designated building shall keep records of information on monthly energy consumption and installation or modification of machinery or equipment that affects the level of energy consumption and conservation, using the Form Bor Por Oor 2. The recorded information shall be kept on site for at least five years for the DEDP to work on and audit.

Ministerial Regulation No. 3 is issued in accordance with Section 22 and Section 11 (4) (5) of the ENCON Act. It prescribes the criteria, procedures and schedule for owners of designated buildings to establish and submit energy conservation targets and plans in designated facilities, as well as to assess and monitor the implementation of the plans.

The key issues of the Ministerial Regulation are divided into two Divisions:

Division 1: Establishment of Energy Conservation Targets and Plan. The owner of a designated building shall establish energy conservation targets and plan for the facility and submit to the DEDP, in compliance with the criteria, procedures and schedule prescribed in the Ministerial Regulation.

Division 2: Assessment and Monitoring of the Implementation of the Plan. The owner of a designated building shall assess and monitor the implementation of the approved plan, in accordance with the criteria, procedures and schedule prescribed in the Ministerial Regulation.

2.4.3 The Announcement of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment on Procedures for Preparing the Energy Audit Report in Designated Buildings was issued in accordance with Item 3 (1) and (2) of the Ministerial Regulation No. 3, B.E. 2538 (1995), in order to standardize the audit and analysis procedures. The Announcement was put into effect on 17 July 1995.

The Ministerial Announcement includes the following important points:

  1. Procedures for conducting the preliminary energy audit and analysis.
  2. Procedures for conducting the detailed energy audit and analysis.

2.4.4 The Announcement of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment on the Values of Thermal Conductivity Coefficient (k) of Materials, Thermal Resistance of Air-Film, Equivalent Temperature Difference, Indoor-Outdoor Temperature Difference of a Building, Shading Coefficient of Window and Solar Factor was issued under Item 6 (1)(4) and Item 7 (1)(3) of the Ministerial Regulation No. 1, prescribing the standards, criteria, and procedures for energy conservation in designated buildings B.E. 2538 (1995), to establish coefficient values of various building construction materials to be applied for calculation on energy conservation-related aspects so that accurate and standardized outcomes can be derived. The Ministerial Announcement was enacted on 17 July 1996.

The essence of the Ministerial Announcement includes the following:

  1. Thermal conductivity coefficient (k) of various materials, to be applied for calculation of thermal resistance value of building construction materials;
  2. Thermal resistance of air film of any material;
  3. The overall thermal transfer value of building walls; and
  4. The overall thermal transfer value of the building roof.

2.4.5 The Announcement of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment on the Registration Criteria for Consultants on Energy Conservation in Designated Buildings was put into force on 13 June 1999. The Ministerial Announcement prescribes the criteria on registration and qualifications of consultants who will be responsible for establishing energy conservation targets and plans, including the audit and analysis of the implementation of the plans.

The key issues of the Ministerial Announcement are divided into seven Divisions:

Division 1: Categories of Consultants
Division 2: Qualifications of Consultants
Division 3: Application Procedures for Consultant Registration
Division 4: Registration Attestation
Division 5: Consultant Personnel
Division 6: Cancellation of Registration
Division 7: Expenses for Registration

2.5 REGULATIONS ON DESIGNATED FACTORIES

2.5.1 The Royal Decree on Designated Factories, B.E. 2540 (1997) was issued according to Section 8 of the ENCON Act, which stipulates that designation of any factory as a designated factory, by type, quantity of energy use, or methods of energy utilization in such a factory, shall be made into a royal decree. The Royal Decree has been in effect since 17 July 1997.

The key issues of the Royal Decree are as follows:

Designated Factories are:

  1. A single factory or factories under the same address which are allowed by any energy distributor to install electricity metering device, or to install one or more transformers of which combined capacity is 1,000 kW or 1,175 kVA or more;
     
    or
     
  2. A single factory or factories under the same address which consume, either one or a combination of the following, electricity from an energy distributor’s system, steam thermal from an energy distributor, or commercial energy from an energy distributor or from self-generation, as from 1 January to 31 December of the past year at a total volume of 200 million megajoules or more of electrical energy equivalent.

The factories with energy consumption volume mentioned in Items 1) - 2) above are/will be considered as designated factories according to the following timing:

Year 1: Factory size above 10 MW, effective on 17 July 1997;
Year 2: Factory size from 3 MW up to 10 MW, effective on 17 July 1998;
Year 3: Factory size from 2 MW up to 3 MW, effective on 17 July 1999;
Year 4: Factory size from 1 MW up to 2 MW, effective on 17 July 2000.

2.5.2 There are two Ministerial Regulations on designated factories, effective since 17 July 1997.

Ministerial Regulation No. 5 is issued under Section 6 paragraph 2, Section 11 (2) and (3) of the ENCON Act, prescribing the forms and schedule for the submission of information on the energy production, consumption, and conservation, including the criteria on and methods of recording information on energy consumption and installation or modification of machinery or equipment that affects the level of energy consumption and conservation.

The key issues of the Ministerial Regulation are divided into two Divisions:

Division 1: Information Submission. The owner of a designated factory shall have to submit a report on energy production, consumption and conservation to the DEDP, using the Form Bor Por Ror 1.

Division 2: Information Recording. The owner of a designated factory shall keep records of information on energy production, consumption and installation or modification of machinery or equipment that affects the level of energy consumption and conservation to the DEDP, using the Form Bor Por Ror 2.

Ministerial Regulation No. 6 is issued under Section 6 paragraph 2 and Section 11 (4) and (5) of the Act, prescribing the criteria, procedures and schedule for owners of designated factories to establish and send in energy conservation targets and plans in designated factories as well as to assess and monitor the implementation of the plans.

The key issues of the Ministerial Regulation are divided into two Divisions:

Division 1: Establishment of Energy Conservation Targets and Plans. Every three years, the owner of a designated factory shall establish energy conservation targets and plan for the facility and implement the plans as approved by the DEDP.

Division 2: Assessment and Monitoring of the Implementation of the Plans. The owner of a designated factory shall assess and monitor the implementation of the plans as approved by the DEDP, and report to the DEDP on an annual basis.

2.5.3 The Announcement of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment on Procedures for Preparing the Energy Audit Report in Designated Factories was issued in accordance with Item 3 (1) and (2) of the Ministerial Regulation No. 6, B.E. 2540 (1997), in order to standardize the audit and analysis procedures of energy consumption in designated factories. The Announcement was put into effect on 26 September 1997.

The Ministerial Announcement concerns the following important points:

  1. Procedures for conducting the preliminary energy audit and analysis.
  2. Procedures for conducting the detailed energy audit and analysis.

2.5.4 The Announcement of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Environment on the Registration Criteria for Consultants on Energy Conservation in Designated Factories was in effect on 25 July 1997. The consultants will be responsible for establishing energy conservation targets and plans, including the audit and analysis of the implementation of the plans.

The key issues of the Ministerial Announcement are divided into seven Divisions:

Division 1: Category of Consultants
Division 2: Qualifications of Consultants
Division 3: Application Procedures for Consultant Registration
Division 4: Registration Attestation
Division 5: Consultant Personnel
Division 6: Cancellation of Registration
Division 7: Expenses for Registration