(Bloomberg) --

An island in a Thai national park that was the model for the “The Beach,” a novel turned into a movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, will become more self-reliant thanks to the power of the sun and a hand from the government.

Thailand has earmarked 172 million baht ($5.4 million) to build a 1 megawatt solar farm with a 1.5 megawatt-hour energy storage system, along with a 600-kilowatt diesel generator, on Koh Phaluai, about 20 miles from better-known Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, the latter home to wild “Full-Moon Parties” featured in the fictional tale.

Phaluai (Koh means island in Thai) currently has only a few hundred inhabitants, mostly fishermen and farmers. There is no central source of electricity, so homes use small diesel-fueled generators for power. Energy self-reliance will narrow the inequality between residents and people on the mainland, the government said in a statement after the Cabinet approved the plan.

When the project is complete, Phaluai will be the first Thai island to have a micro-grid system that can generate, store and distribute electricity without relying on power sources on the mainland -- many larger of Thailand’s larger islands get their electricity via underwater cables.

The concept of using independent micro-grids to power remote places is relatively new and has high up-front costs compared to a generator. Engie SA has built demonstration micro-grids for Singapore’s Semakau Island, and said that it sees opportunities across Southeast Asia, a region with thousands of islands -- many without access to traditional power plants.

The remote setting and tropical environment of Phaluai and neighboring islands are similar to what was described in “The Beach,” a tale of a young man’s search for an idyllic beach, which has a community of international backpackers. The 1996 book was turned into a DiCaprio movie in 2000, though filming was done mostly on more-developed Phi Phi Islands in the Andaman Sea, not on Phaluai.

The micro-grid project will be developed by the state-run Provincial Electricity Authority, with the goals of promoting use of renewable energy, energy storage systems and reducing power generation from diesel.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.