GIS-based Analysis of Solar Power Plant Suitability in Thailand: Minimizing Natural Disaster Risks

Thailand, a member of the UN Framework on Climate Change, aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050 and have zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2065. To reach this goal, Thailand is promoting renewable energy, particularly solar power plants. The location for installing solar power plants is need considered due to avoid natural disasters and flooding. The study attempted to evaluate the suitability of various regions in Thailand for developing solar power plants. To minimize the risk of natural disasters such as floods and landslides, the analysis considered these variables by processing actual flood data, landslide susceptibility data, and land use/land cover images through ArcGIS Pro. There were 3 cases for determining the level of disasters. The results showed that if the rainfall is less than 1829 mm, there is a suitable area of 182,169.33 km
²
, representing 35.35% of the entire country's area. When all cases are considered, the Northeastern region has the biggest remaining area, while the Northern region has the least. In every region of Thailand, there is still a huge potential for establishing solar power plants. For solar power generation of 7,500 kWp, the installation area was used around 60 Km
²
, less than 1% of the remaining area for all cases. Utilizing clean energy, free energy source and reducing greenhouse gas emissions are all additional advantages of the solar power plant.