# Time to Rewrite Energy Rules: Unavoidable Transition for Thailand

- Link: https://www.thailand-business-news.com/environment/329524-time-to-rewrite-energy-rules-unavoidable-transition-for-thailand
- Published: 2026-10-07T10:26:00+07:00
- Author: Thailand Development Research Institute

Recent Middle East conflict and oil price volatility have highlighted Thailand’s
dependence on imported fossil fuels, prompting calls to accelerate its clean energy
transition. A seminar involving energy experts, policymakers, and industry representatives
concluded that reducing fossil fuel dependence is now an economic and security necessity,
not just an environmental goal, with ASEAN neighbors facing similar pressures.

Research presented showed growing industrial demand for green electricity, though
supply and infrastructure remain insufficient, while another study emphasized protecting
jobs tied to natural gas industries during the transition. Experts recommend modernizing
the electricity grid, expanding battery storage, and shifting from the Enhanced 
Single Buyer model toward market liberalization, including broader Direct Power 
Purchase Agreements. The upcoming Power Development Plan 2026-2050 is seen as a 
key opportunity to implement these reforms, balancing renewable energy expansion
with affordability and economic competitiveness.

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The latest conflict in the Middle East did more than send oil prices soaring. It
exposed, once again, a weakness Thailand has lived with for decades; its heavy dependence
on imported fossil fuels. 

However, a crisis can turn into an opportunity.

For Thailand, this is the time to accelerate a shift towards clean energy, to reduce
fossil fuel dependence, strengthen energy security, and achieve its net-zero emissions
by 2050. 

Therefore, the challenge for Thailand’s energy system is not only to manage short-
term crises, but also to become more reliable and flexible in the long term, while
keeping electricity affordable for the people. 

This topic was raised at the recent seminar “Energy in a Boiling World: Thailand’s
Unavoidable Choice” organised by the Clean, Affordable, and Sustainable Energy (
CASE) for Southeast Asia project, in collaboration with the German Agency for International
Cooperation (GIZ), the Energy Research Institute of Chulalongkorn University, and
the Thailand Development Research Institute (TDRI). 

From this seminar, energy experts, policymakers, academics, and the private sector
reached a consensus that “Reducing dependence on imported fuels and expanding clean
energy is no longer just an environmental goal. It has become an economic necessity,
a matter of national security, and an essential safeguard against future global 
disruptions.” 

### ASEAN’s Voice – Lessons from the Neighbours 

Thailand is far from alone in this challenge. Other ASEAN countries under the CASE
project; Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines, have also been hit by the recent
energy crisis. Apart from short-term measures to cushion the immediate impact, some
governments have established central committees to coordinate responses across ministries.
For the long term, all countries are moving in the same direction, accelerating 
domestic clean energy development. Apart from ambitious targets, the ASEAN representatives
underlined the need for consistent government policies and a careful balancing of
the interests of all stakeholders to achieve a successful transition. 

“Thailand is moving in the same direction”, said Ms. Patcharaporn Phasukavanich,
a director of the Strategy and Planning Division at the Energy Policy and Planning
Office (EPPO). 

The government, she said, is giving greater priority to renewable and alternative
energy while modernising the national electricity grid to support a changing energy
landscape. 

### Exploring Energy Transition Opportunities Through a Research Lens 

Industry trends suggest that the transition is already under way.

A study titled Green Electricity Demand in Thailand’s Industrial Economy, conducted
by GIZ senior energy adviser Mr. Suchart Klaikaew, surveyed 69% of companies in 
the country’s industrial sector.

The study found that while 91% of the surveyed companies still use green electricity
for less than 25% of their total electricity usage, more than half plan to increase
that share to over 50% by 2030, driven by environmental targets and global trade
requirements.

The demand for green electricity is obviously there; however, supply is still insufficient.
The study also shows that industrial demand for renewable electricity is expected
to increase sevenfold by 2040. Without faster investment in transmission networks
and other supporting infrastructure, Thailand risks losing its appeal as a regional
manufacturing base. 

### The energy transition is also about people and their livelihoods.

Another study, Gas Under Pressure: Managing Energy Security, Economic Resilience
and Livelihoods,  by Ms. Hanna Fekete from the NewClimate Institute, found that 
the energy transition is not only about replacing fossil fuels, but also about protecting
people’s employment and livelihoods. 

Using economic modelling and interviews with communities in Rayong’s Eastern Economic
Corridor (EEC), the study found that natural gas-fired electricity generation currently
supports more than 100,000 jobs. This means that transition process must consider
creating new jobs for workers who depend on it. 

Skills training, local hiring policies, and stronger support for small businesses
are all needed if the transition is to be fair rather than disruptive. 

The upcoming Power Development Plan for 2026-2050 (PDP 2026) offers an important
opportunity to embed those principles into Thailand’s long-term energy strategy.

However, planning alone will not be enough. 

### If the transition to clean energy is inevitable, the next question is, where should Thailand begin?

During the panel discussion “How Should Thailand’s Energy Sector Adapt in a Changing
World?”, energy experts and academics likewise underlined that reform must begin
with new rules and a new electricity market structure. 

To make the transition possible, Thailand must accelerate the modernisation to accommodate
the growing share of renewable energy in the electricity mix. At the same time, 
the system’s flexibility must be enhanced by expanding the use of Battery Energy
Storage Systems (BESS), helping maintain the stability and reliability of the country’s
power system. 

However, the major challenge for Thailand lies in transforming its electricity market
structure, form the “Enhanced Single Buyer (ESB)” model, originally designed for
energy security but failing to meet the needs of prosumers, to a “Market Liberalisation”
model.  

The ESB model may have worked in the past, but not now as businesses and households
begin generating electricity by themselves. The system should therefore move towards
a more liberalised electricity market. 

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The government has taken a first step by adopting a pilot Direct Power Purchase 
Agreement (Direct PPA) scheme, allowing private electricity producers and users 
to trade electricity directly through the Third Party Access (TPA) mechanism, which
enables producers to use existing transmission lines to connect with buyers without
having to go through the traditional state-controlled purchasing system. For now,
however, the scheme is only officially available to data centres that are being 
promoted by the Board of Investment (BOI). 

This has resulted in a consensus among the private sector, calling for Direct PPA
and TPA to be expanded to the entire industrial sector, especially as manufacturers’
need for renewable energy grows more urgent under pressure from the European Union’s
Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) and the RE100commitments adopted by multinational
companies across global supply chains. 

Therefore, reliable access to renewable electricity is becoming a competitive requirement
rather than a corporate choice.. 

The private sector is also calling for a broader reform of the electricity industry
based on the “4D1E” framework: Digitalisation (Use digital technology to manage 
the electricity system), Decarbonisation (Reduce carbon emissions), Decentralisation(
Distribute electricity generation), De-regulation (Promote competitiveness and reform
regulations to unlock regulatory barriers for fair competition), and Electrification(
expand the use of electricity to replace fossil fuels). 

Ultimately, The PDP 2026, which is currently under revision, could become the blueprint
for these changes. So far, the target for renewable energy in power generation has
been raised to more than 50%, and the plan has been adjusted to prepare for growing
electricity demand from electric vehicles and data centres, without shifting excessive
costs onto consumers. 

After all,  Thailand does not have to choose between economic growth and a cleaner
environment, nor is this just about keeping up with global trends. It is all about
whether Thailand will keep relying on an energy system that grows more vulnerable
with energy crisis, or transits one that is cleaner, more secure, and more competitive.

The choice will shape not only the country’s economic future but also the quality
of life for the people in this increasingly uncertain world – and the longer Thailand
delays the transition, the higher the price it is likely to pay.  

Pasinee Rerkpiboon is a Researcher at the Thailand Development and Research Institute(
TDRI). Policy analyses from the TDRI appeared in the Bangkok Post on 8 September
2026. 

[Read More ](https://tdri.or.th/en/2026/09/time-to-rewrite-energy/?rand=86529)