The resort developer The Horseshoe Point and the fuel-cell producer Cellennium (Thailand) will launch an energy-efficiency housing project, supported by the government of Denmark, in Pattaya in late November.

The Eco-Village Prototype Horseshoe Point will feature lower energy consumption and will also produce electricity from alternative fuels, said Krisada Kampanatsanyakorn, the chairman of Cellennium (Thailand), a subsidiary of Thai Gypsum Products Plc.

Housing units will be built with energy-saving designs and construction materials. As the materials cost more than traditional ones, the company will apply prefabricated technology to reduce construction time from 18 months to only three to four months.

"To make [energy-efficiency houses] affordable for the mass market, we are using the construction costs of housing units built by Land & Houses as a benchmark," Mr Krisada said, referring to the local market leader.

The result, he said, would be a construction cost under 20,000 baht per square metre. Mid-market houses built by home builders generally cost in the range of 16,000 to 18,000 baht per sq m.

The development will also tap into electricity generated using solar energy from sunlight, and biomass from leaves, horse dung and scrap wood. All are easy to find at the Horseshoe Point Resort & Country Club where the project is located.

Chaikiri Srifuengfung, Horseshoe Point's founder and chairman, said the 20-rai plot would initially contain three resort units with a usable area of 300 sq m each on plots of 150 square wah.

Construction began three months ago and will be completed in time for a Nov 26 opening ceremony that will be presided over by Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark.

"Water supply is a problem in Pattaya. But this project can recycle waste into clean water," said Mr Chaikiri.

The company has spent around 40 million baht for the project and plans to rent out the units to long-stay tourists in Pattaya.

"It's the most complete energy-efficient housing project, not only saving and producing electricity but also making money from energy and reducing consumption of natural resources," he said.

Horseshoe Point plans to expand the approach to its other housing projects. Currently, it has a total of 5,000 rai nearby for developing up to 20,000 houses.

Though unit prices would be 10% higher than for comparable conventional houses, homeowners could save up to 50% on their energy bills, he added.

Mr Krisada said Cellennium would be a consultant for all energy-efficiency systems including electricity, water and farming systems.

The company will also supply some of its vanadium-based fuel cells to generate and store electricity, so the project would be able to sell power back to state utilities if output exceeded demand.

The average cost to store power from the grid during off-peak times is just 1.20 baht per unit (kilowatt/hour), while the price that can be earned selling power to the Provincial Electricity Authority would be three baht per unit, he said.

The Horseshoe Point site is one of three energy-efficient housing projects funded by the government of Denmark with a total of 30 million baht. It is also supporting a low-cost National Housing Authority development and a mid-priced development in Rangsit Klong 8.

Cellennium is also working with the Energy Ministry to use fuel cells in public buses. As well, it will sign an agreement early next month with MFC Asset Management to support this technology with around 355 million baht.

Established in 2000, Cellennium is 76.52% held by Thai partners, 11.24% by Squirrel Holdings Limited, 9.36% by Mitsubishi International Corporation and 2.88% by researcher Placido Maria Spaziante.