Renewables key for Thailand to overcome dependency on fossil fuel imports

 The most recent report from GlobalData, titled "Thailand Power Market Outlook to 2035, Update 2022 – Market Trends, Regulations, and Competitive Landscape," provides historical and forecast figures for capacity, generation, and consumption up to 2035. It also discusses the structure of Thailand's power market. The country's regulatory framework for the power market, the competitive landscape, and a list of major power plants are all examined in great detail. Additionally, the macroeconomics, supply security, generation infrastructure, transmission and distribution infrastructure, electricity import and export scenario, degree of competition, regulatory scenario, and future potential of the country's power sector are all examined in the report. The report also includes an analysis of the deals in the country's power sector.

As gas-based thermal power generation accounted for nearly 61.3 percent of Thailand's annual electricity generation in 2021, the development of renewable energy is essential to reducing the country's reliance on imports of fossil fuels.

Thailand is facing significant difficulties as a result of its diminishing natural gas reserves and rising fuel import costs. If no new reserves are discovered, the nation's natural gas reserves are expected to significantly decrease by 2030.

The dispute between Chevron and Thailand's state-owned oil and gas company, PTT Exploration and Production (PTTEP), which took over the field's operations in April 2022, is primarily to blame for the decline in Erawan field output, which is the largest gas field in Thailand. Since gas deposits are found in small pockets throughout the Erawan field and hundreds of wells must be drilled annually to maintain output, a lack of innovation from PTTEP is also a growing concern.

In the first half of 2022, the share of domestic gas supply in Thailand decreased from 64% to 40% due to a decrease in supplies from the Gulf of Thailand. This led to an increase in imports of liquified natural gas (LNG), which in turn led to higher electricity bills for end users.

Customers were reassured by the government in April 2022 that there would not be a shortage of electricity like in Vietnam or Sri Lanka. However, as a precaution, Thailand's Prime Minister instructed the nation to reduce its power consumption by 20%.

The country faces a risky scenario as a result of the strategy to meet demand through imports and generation based on coal. Even though environmentalists have been against using more coal-based power, importing electricity from neighboring countries like Malaysia and Laos to meet the growing demand may not be a long-term solution for the country due to the rising cost of fossil fuels.

The government's Power Development Plan (PDP) calls for the country's power capacity to rise from 46,090 MW in 2017 to 77,211 MW in 2037. The nation is planning to produce 53% of its power from gaseous petrol, 35% from non-renewable energy sources and 12% from coal in 2037.

Additionally, the government announced that 282.92MW of renewable power capacity from small power producers (SPP) and very small power producers (VSPP) will be realized through the Feed in Tariff (FiT) mechanism. In the years 2025 and 2026, the electricity produced by these plants will be supplied to commercial customers.

The government should look to significantly increase its renewable capacity in order to reduce its reliance on fossil fuel imports and thermal power, despite the fact that such measures are encouraging for the renewable power industry. There are a number of solar photovoltaic (PV) projects in progress and a developed market for biopower in the nation. The nation ought to try to make use of its advantages.

At constant prices, Thailand's GDP increased by 2.2% from $341.1 billion in 2010 to $431.2 billion in 2021. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the nation's GDP (at constant prices) decreased significantly from $452.1 billion in 2019 to $424.5 billion in 2020. After the recommencement of normal modern and exchange exercises, the Gross domestic product became by 1.6% in 2021 from 2020. The Gross domestic product is supposed to cross pre-pandemic levels toward the finish of 2023.