Thailand’s Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) will shortly propose its power development plan (PDP) to Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, in the anticipation that electricity consumption in Thailand will be peaking sharply during the night by 2027, due to the increase in the number of electric vehicles in use.
EPPO Director Wattanapong Kurovat said, however, that the PDP will be subject to a final public hearing, after it is approved by the energy minister, before it is forwarded to the Cabinet for final approval.
Power consumption this year has been estimated at 201,913 gigawatt hours (GWh), up about 2.4% year on year, reflecting economic expansion, estimated at 2.5-3% for the whole year, mainly due to tourism recovery, investment and private consumption expansion.
Contractual electricity production this year is 53,022 megawatts, which is divided into 17,024 megawatts (32%) by independent power producers (IPPs), 16,237 megawatts (31%) by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), 9,303 megawatts (18%) by small power producers (SPPs), 6,235 megawatts (12%) imported from Laos and 4,223 megawatts (8%) from very small power producers (VSPPs).
Actual power consumption during the first half of this year amounted to 101,043 GWh, representing an increase of 2.2% year on year due to an increase in electricity consumption by the private sector, such as hotels, apartments and guest houses. Consumption by the industrial sector, however, dropped by 3.8%, due to a reduction in exports and a global economic slowdown.
Wattanapong said that his office will closely monitor the carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) of the European Union, which will come into force on October 1st, and how it will impact industrial production in Thailand.
CBAM is a policy toll aimed at reducing carbon emissions by ensuring that imported goods are subject to the same carbon costs as products produced within the EU.
