Faced with a lack of energy options, Thailand looks to coal

As the Thai economy continues its steady growth, policymakers are drafting energy strategies with a view toward keeping the lights on for the next 15 years.

To do that, planners say, Thailand must nearly double its electricity production to about 55,000 megawatts each year.

But as Thailand is learning and Malaysia has already discovered, coal could be the key to energy security in the coming decades. To secure supply in a cost-effective way that won't hold the country hostage to gas imports from regimes like neighboring Myanmar or Iran, analysts say the most viable option is coal – a fuel source hated by environmentalists who see it as the main driver of global warming.

"As much as I don't like coal, due to the carbon emissions, I'm equally worried about the need for Thailand to diversify fuel sources," says Mark Hutchinson, an independent regional energy analyst. "And there's really nothing other than coal."

A power plant fueled by natural gas has the added benefit of, on average, producing about half as much carbon dioxide, a third as much nitrogen oxides, and 1 percent as much sulfur oxides as a coal-fired plant.

Of the 22,684 megawatts Thailand uses each year, nearly 70 percent comes from gas and about 15 percent from coal.

While the reliance on gas is already considered high, Thai Energy Minister Piyasvasti Amranand has warned that 90 percent of Thailand's power could come from gas if the country does not embrace either coal or nuclear energy.

That trend is particularly worrisome because Thailand already relies on Burma (Myanmar), an oppressive military-run state, for about a third of its gas.

In future years, as domestic natural-gas production in the Gulf of Thailand peaks, Bangkok may have to import increasingly expensive liquefied natural gas from Middle Eastern countries like Iran.

"Certainly it's a concern to be so reliant on natural gas," says Norkhun Sitthiphong, the Ministry of Energy's deputy permanent secretary who is overseeing the electricity plan. "Natural gas is subject to volatile world market oil prices, and we know exactly what can happen when they rise quickly."

Learning lessons from Malaysia

Five years ago in Malaysia, policymakers faced the same problem. At that time, nearly three-quarters of the Muslim state's electricity came from natural gas.

Kuala Lumpur then shifted towards coal-fired power plants, and now coal is slated to generate half of the country's power by 2030 – a remarkable increase from just 6 percent in 2002.

The move shows the increasing strategic importance of coal, which is plentiful and relatively cheap compared to gas.

Two-thirds of future global coal demand will come from energy-hungry China and India, and the US plans to boost power generation from coal to 57 percent by 2030 from 50 percent now.

Energy officials in Bangkok have drawn up no less than nine 15-year plans to add between 27,000 and 36,790 megawatts to the grid by 2021. All of the plans call for the use of coal and nuclear energy, with coal set to generate between 2,100 and 21,000 megawatts, while nuclear power would account for about 4,000 megawatts in every plan.

Page: 1 | 2