Thailand’s approach to increasing the proportion of renewable energy within their energy mix has been slow and gradual. However, a transformation within the Thai energy sector is expected to change this. Thailand currently has a short-term target, which aims to increase renewable energy to 20.3% by 2022. As of 2015, the majority of the energy produced within the country was natural gas (64%), followed by coal (20%) and renewable energy (8%). Thailand’s rapid growth coupled with a depletion in their supplies of natural gas has meant that a diversification of the Thai energy sector must inevitably occur.
Despite the majority of Thailand’s energy generation coming from natural gas, the country consumes mainly petroleum products (54%). This is likely due to the large amounts of petroleum imported into the country, coupled with a recent reduction in its price. Despite generating enough energy to be self-sufficient, Thailand likely relies on imports and exports as a result of their highly dependent energy mix and depleting supplies. This lack of diversity within their energy system and depleting supply of fossil fuels reserves will present Thailand with some future challenges regarding the security and sustainability of their energy system. In an attempt to minimise these problems before they arise, the Thai Government has developed a number of plans in order to diversify their power sector.
To continue to read the full Thailand report as part of our Research Series “The Future is Renewable: Targets and Policies by Country”, please click “Read More”.
