- BloombergNEF’s Thailand: Turning Point for a Net-Zero Power Grid report finds that solar power has been the cheapest source of electricity generation in Thailand since 2022
- Solar paired with batteries has already become more economically viable than newly built gas- and coal-fired power plants
- Using clean hydrogen and ammonia to reduce emissions from Thailand’s thermal power plants may not be financially viable in comparison
Singapore, May 19, 2025 – Scaling up renewables would be the most economic pathway for Thailand to make progress toward its climate-related goals, according to BloombergNEF’s latest report, Thailand: Turning Point for a Net-Zero Power Grid, published today. In comparison, retrofitting thermal power plants for hydrogen blending or ammonia co-firing is both more expensive and less effective in abating emissions. Similar challenges apply to the usage of carbon capture and storage technology at existing thermal power plants in the near term. Thailand, which is the third largest electricity consumer in Southeast Asia, is aiming for carbon neutrality by 2050, and net-zero emissions by 2065 or earlier.
BNEF’s report shows that the levelized cost of electricity generation (LCOE) for a new utility-scale solar power plant became cheaper than a new combined-cycle gas turbine and coal power plant in Thailand back in 2022. In addition, the LCOE of new solar plants became cheaper than the short run marginal cost (SRMC) of existing coal power plants as well as combined cycle gas turbines (CCGTs) in 2024. This means it is now cost-effective to build a new solar plant in order to displace or reduce gas- or coal-fired generation from existing power plants.
BNEF expects a typical solar project with four-hour storage to become cost-competitive against the costs of running existing thermal power plants in 2025. Onshore wind will also become economically competitive against new coal this decade, though low wind speeds in most of Thailand limit suitable areas for onshore wind deployment.
“Our report shows Thailand can prioritize deployment of renewables and energy storage to meet growing electricity demand,” said Ponglert Chanthorn, BNEF’s Thailand and Singapore lead analyst and co-author of the report. “This has the added benefit of reducing the need for increasing reliance on costly LNG imports from far-flung locations such as Alaska and in turn improve Thailand’s long-term energy affordability and security”.
Under its Gas Plan 2024 (covering the period from 2024 to 2037), Thailand plans to blend natural gas with 5% clean hydrogen by volume as a cleaner fuel for gas power plants by 2030. However, hydrogen-gas blending in power generation will not be the most cost-effective decarbonization pathway for Thailand, BNEF concludes in its report. Direct renewable energy use is a far more effective and affordable method to reduce power-sector emissions.
“Thailand needs to prioritize clean hydrogen for hard-to-abate sectors where direct electrification is not possible,” said Shantanu Jaiswal, BNEF’s Head of South and Southeast Asia and co-author of the report. “Gas power plants running on green hydrogen under the most optimistic green hydrogen production costs would still generate electricity at more than three times the cost of solar paired with batteries in 2050.”
Solar and wind power accounted for only 5.6% of Thailand’s domestic electricity supply in 2024, BNEF estimates. BNEF’s Net Zero Scenario shows that solar and wind can supply 60% of Thailand’s electricity in 2050 while strengthening the country’s energy security and eliminating emissions. For a copy of the full report, Thailand: Turning Point for a Net-Zero Power Grid, please visit the following link.
Contact
Oktavia Catsaros
BloombergNEF
+1 212 617 9209
ocatsaros@bloomberg.net
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