Thailand’s Electrical Infrastructure Status 2023 | Tractus

Over the past century, electricity has risen to become a vital resource for both households and commercial activities. Modern industry requires safe, dependable, reliable, and economical electricity to produce products and services efficiently and with high quality.

Thailand has been very successful in developing its electrical power generation, transmission grid, and distribution network. In 1976, when Thailand launched its Accelerated Rural Electrification Program, only 21% of Thai homes had access to power. Thailand reached 98% in 1996, and by 2016 it achieved essentially full access at 99.99%.

Today, Thailand consumes a total of approximately 200,000 GW per year of electricity, and 100 million liters of oil per day.

The Thailand transmission grid, operated by the state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) saw a peak electrical demand of 32,255 MW in 2022, with a peak contract electrical capacity of 49,099 GW, for a reserve margin of 34%. This strong reserve margin was down from Thailand’s record reserve margin of 37% in 2020 during the COVID pandemic but is up from the pre-COVID 2019 reserve margin of 32%. It is Thailand’s policy to assure energy security by maintaining a minimum reserve margin of 20%.

Thailand’s total installed power generating capacity of 49 GW is produced by a mix of power plants owned by EGAT, Independent Power Producers (IPPs), Small Power Producers (SPPs), Very Small Power Producers (VSPPs), and imports. The national grid is operated by EGAT. Power Distribution and Retail Sales are operated by the Metropolitan Energy Authority (MEA) in Bangkok, and by the Provincial Energy Authority (PEA) outside of Bangkok.

Thailand’s average electrical price for business customers is generally competitive on a global basis but is higher than some of its Southeast Asian peers. The adjacent table ranks Thailand’s electricity prices with its Southeast Asian and global peer countries.

Thailand generates approximately 58% of its electricity using natural gas as of 2022, down from a peak of 70.5% in 2015. Thailand obtains approximately 70% of its natural gas from domestic sources. Nearly 5.25% of Thailand’s electricity is produced from renewable energy, including large hydro.

Power generation remains the largest source of CO₂ emissions in Thailand, followed closely by the transportation and industrial sectors.

The Thai government has established targets to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero emissions by 2065. To achieve these goals the government has developed its “Thailand Energy Infrastructure Policy 4D1E” with the pillars of Digitalization, De-centralization, De-regulation, De-carbonization, and Electrification.

Thailand’s current National Energy Efficiency rating is 18%, but the government has established additional targets to raise this figure to 30% by 2030. Achieving carbon neutrality will require a National Energy Efficiency of 40%, which Thailand aims to achieve by 2040.

Thailand sourced 100% of its natural gas from domestic resources through the year 2000. For the past 20 years, however, an increasing percentage of Thailand’s natural gas demands have been met through a combination of pipeline imports from Myanmar and imported LNG. Thailand began importing LNG in 2011.

Thailand’s natural gas reserves to production ratio is currently around 5 years, with total domestic gas reserves expected to last only 10 to 20 years. Thailand is therefore investing in LNG infrastructure to meet future demands, which are forecast to reach 30 million metric tons per year by 2027. The Thailand Ministry of Energy is also pursuing initiatives to become the Power Trade Hub of Southeast Asia, as well as a regional LNG Trading Hub. Thailand’s third LNG import terminal is scheduled to begin operation in 2025.

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Written by Frank Timmons, Senior Manager based in the Thailand office.