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

But any decision to build more coal-fired power plants – or even a nuclear plant – will likely take some political muscle, which the military-installed government is sorely lacking after months of missteps.

The first public hearing for the 15-year plan was canceled after 600 protestors from rural areas blocked the entrance to the meeting place. The second hearing, held this week at a military conference center, went off without a hitch.

Thailand's prior experience with coal has put the fossil fuel on the environmental hit list.

In the northern province of Lampang, the dirty lignite-fuelled Mae Moh power plant has been linked to hundreds of deaths and respiratory problems among local villagers.

Those troubles led villagers four years ago in the coastal province of Prachuap Khiri Khan to successfully kill plans by two companies to build coal-fired power plants – forcing them to switch to gas-fired plants and move to another province.

"It's extremely difficult to find a place to build a coal-fired plant because it's subject to much opposition," Mr. Norkhun says. "But I think we can do it if we provide the right incentives."

Thai planners consider incentives

A draft law now making its way through the legislature would call for an energy tax that will send millions of baht directly to communities in which power plants are located. The government is also considering incentives to give away electricity for free to villages surrounding a power plant.

Still, many are skeptical that even those moves will placate rural communities.

Environmental groups like Greenpeace and human rights activists say the government should decentralize its power operations and focus on small power plants that generate enough power for each community instead of importing gas or hydropower from neighboring countries.

But that will likely lead to increased power bills.

"You can say 'Let's build one megawatt and five megawatt projects all over the country,' but if you push up the cost of power to the consumer, they'll be outraged," says Duncan Ritchie, executive director of Aequero, an Asia-based energy and infrastructure consultancy.

"The way to deliver the cheapest energy is gas-fired or coal-fired power plants. If you supplement that with renewable energy, the price will go up because renewable energy is more expensive," he says. Even so, that price may be worth paying to mitigate the inevitable protests that a coal or nuclear power plant would invite.

One solution, says Mr. Ritchie, is a "co-firing" plant that would burn coal and biomass, which is plentiful in Thailand.

Either way, experts warn that Thailand should take steps to diversify fuel sources now so its electricity supply five to 10 years from now will be secure. If policymakers leave the tough choices for the future, the costs could be extremely high.

"Coal is not a panacea, but diversity of supply is," says a long-time Bangkok-based power plant consultant. "To rely on a country like Iran and Myanmar for gas supply … if anything, I'd be shaking in my boots."

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