Driving forward Thailand’s wind energy industry

Thailand has been a focus market for the Task Force since its inception in June 2019. At that moment, we were in a dark side on what result would be for the Power Development Plan (PDP) revision in Thailand, which has been our focal point for the Task Force’s activities in the country. This work was culminated in the first high-level roundtable session between the wind power industry and Thai government.

Last week, our efforts paid off as we received great news that the Thailand PDP revision includes an indicative target of 90MW/year between 2023-2025, with a possibility of an upward adjustment if all goes well. This is a small target comparing with what we are asking for as an industry and the potential for Thailand wind energy resources, but it is still a small victory for the wind power industry in the country, which has been at a standstill in the past two years with no new wind farm projects being commissioned.

In 2019, new wind turbines installations in Thailand reached 322 MW, bringing the total wind power capacity to 1,532 MW in the country – half of the 3 GW target set by the government for 2037. Moving forward, wind development is entering a hibernation phase with the expiry of previous subsidy schemes and no new incentives in sight. Nevertheless, the outlook for Thailand’s wind farm market still is undoubtedly one of the strongest in the region, and it is sure to come back stronger from 2022 onwards.

Liming Qiao, Asia Director, GWEC Asia