Abstract:
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This research explores the important factors affecting the effectiveness and the
effectiveness of small biomass power plants all over Thailand. The objectives of the
study include 1) to study and establish a model of the relationship between the factors
that influence the effectiveness and the effectiveness of small biomass power plants.
2) to test and analyze the relationships between key factors affecting the effectiveness
and effectiveness of small biomass power plants. This study uses the Mixed Method
with Qualitative and Quantitative Method by the Sequential Mixed Method Designed
as the Exploratory Design. This method is well known as The Sequential Exploratory
Mixed Method. The qualitative research data, collected by in-depth interviews of
experts of small biomass power plants from both government and private sectors as
well as focus groups with the community surrounding the plants and field studies. The
qualitative research results of the important factors affecting the effectiveness of small
biomass power plants consist of Biomass fuels, Technology of producing the
electricity, the knowledge, skills, and abilities of employees, The government subsidy,
Location of power plant, The community acceptance, The initial project design, The
management of biomass power plant, Biomass fuel management, The dependence on
the biomass fuel from outside, Regulations and laws, The organizational culture, The
executive vision, The potential of the grid lines, The accessory of connecting the
electricity, The distance of biomass sources, Knowledge development, The supply
chain management, The purchase agreement, The local politics and crude oil prices.
The effectiveness of small biomass power plant are 1) The financial
effectiveness 2) The environmental effectiveness and 3) The community
effectiveness. The research uses all important issues from qualitative research to
design the instrument of the quantitative research. The questionnaires are the
instruments for collecting the data from the small biomass power plants all over
Thailand, totaling 343 power plants. 211 (61.51%) returned completed questionnaires.
The researcher analyzed the data by using the Exploratory Factor Analysis to classify
all variables from a large number of variables resulting from qualitative research to
group and to create new variables applicable to the conceptual frameworks and
hypotheses of the quantitative research. The results of Exploratory Factor Analysis
are the 8 factors of the important factors affecting the effectiveness of small biomass
power plants as the following 1) The power network and the transmission lines 2)
The skills and capabilities of employees 3) Regulations and laws 4) The community
acceptance 5) The dependence on the biomass fuel resources 6) The values of
working 7) The location of the power plants 8) The supply chain management. The
effectiveness of small biomass power plants are 1) The financial effectiveness 2) The
environmental effectiveness and 3) The community effectiveness. The researcher used
all 11 latent variables to create the model of the relationship between the factors that
influence the effectiveness and effectiveness of small biomass power plants and
analyze the model with the Structured Equation Model Statistical method. The
statistical results found that the model of the relationship between the factors that
influence the effectiveness and effectiveness of small biomass power plants is a very
good fit. The results of the hypothesis testing are that the power network and the
transmission lines, the skills and capabilities of employees, the dependence of the
biomass fuel resources and the supply chain management are positively correlated
with the financial effectiveness of small biomass power plants. The regulations and
laws, the dependence of the biomass fuel resources, the location of the power plants
and the supply chain management are likely to positively correlate with the
environmental effectiveness of small biomass power plants. The community
acceptance, the dependence of the biomass fuel resources, the values of work, and the
supply chain management are likely to positively correlate with the community
effectiveness of small biomass power plants.
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