en.Wedoany.com Reported - Thailand's Ministry of Energy stated that new market rules will encourage investment in energy storage as a key component of the country's national energy vision. Wattanapong Kurovat, Director-General of the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO), delivered a keynote speech on the first day of the 2026 Asia Energy Storage Summit, which opened earlier this month (July 2), noting that energy storage plays a crucial role as the backbone of modern power systems, providing flexibility, reliability, and resilience, connecting intermittent renewable energy with a stable and resilient supply.
Kurovat described energy storage as the "backbone" of Thailand's national energy vision, supporting the commitment to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and enabling a greater share of renewable energy while ensuring affordability and security for the people. The country's energy storage development has been limited, at least for large-scale battery energy storage systems (BESS) projects. The ASEAN Sustainable Energy Week (ASEW) expo, held in Thailand's capital Bangkok, is the venue for this year's summit.
The ASEW expo featured no shortage of battery storage suppliers targeting the local market, but almost all products were aimed at the residential, commercial, and industrial (C&I) market segments. According to data cited by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), as of the end of 2024, Thailand had only three utility-scale solar-plus-storage projects, pairing 184MW of solar photovoltaic capacity with 345MWh of BESS capacity, and no standalone BESS projects. These projects were deployed under a 2022 program designed to support gigawatt-scale co-located projects.
Thailand's energy demand is growing rapidly, and its renewable energy market is relatively mature compared to other ASEAN countries, but policy development to support energy storage participation has lagged, a view expressed by Solar Media market research analyst Charlotte Gisbourne in a guest blog for Energy-Storage.news in March. The Philippines and Vietnam have moved further ahead in accelerating the adoption of battery storage through new revenue frameworks, such as allowing value stacking and tender programs. However, the Thai government is implementing a four-pillar strategy to integrate energy storage into the country's evolving power landscape, including smart grid integration of storage, developing domestic manufacturing and supply chains, market mechanisms and market access reforms, and cross-border electricity trading within the ASEAN region and broader international partnerships.
Kurovat stated that as Thailand's power industry continues to evolve, a more flexible and competitive market environment is being created, and a more open and competitive electricity market is being fostered. A key policy development is the introduction of direct power purchase agreements (PPAs), granting third-party grid access rights to large energy users and producers, such as data centers and renewable energy developers, and opening up investment pathways. Energy storage is becoming an integral part of this evolving market framework, making renewable energy more accessible, enhancing system flexibility, and supporting demand-side management. Solar energy is opening up new business opportunities and boosting investor confidence.
Investor confidence was a recurring theme among speakers at the 2026 Asia Energy Storage Summit during the two-day conference program following Kurovat's speech. To date, Southeast Asian countries either lack the depth of commercial opportunities in which BESS can participate, or lack government support programs to drive renewable energy adoption in the region. The Philippines' electricity trading market is an exception to the former, and the country has become an early leader in energy storage deployment among ASEAN nations. The Future Energy Storage and System Integration Alliance (FESSIA), a multilateral industry organization, advocated in its report "Unlocking the Role of Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) in ASEAN Electricity Markets" for ASEAN countries to follow the examples of the Philippines and Vietnam by implementing regulatory frameworks that reflect the value of energy storage.
Kurovat stated that Thailand's clear mission is to integrate energy storage into all levels of its power system, and to promote industry and innovation, achieving market access and digitalized operations. Thailand's electricity market operates under an enhanced single buyer model, with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT), a state-owned generation, transmission, and distribution utility, serving as the main off-taker for large-scale storage. Warit Rattanachuen, Deputy Governor for Strategy at EGAT, stated in a keynote speech that for Thailand, solar energy is currently the most viable technology to help increase the renewable energy share to a target of 70% by 2050, which will be included in the country's long-awaited National Power Development Plan (PDP). The PDP sets a mid-century net-zero emissions target, but the release of the plan, officially named the 2024 PDP, has been delayed, initially from 2025 to this summer, and is now expected to be released this autumn.
In 2025, Thailand's energy mix consisted of 54% natural gas, 19% coal/lignite, 25% renewable energy, and 2% other sources. Thailand plans to transition to 70% renewable energy by 2050, with the remainder largely based on natural gas. Rattanachuen stated that given grid integration challenges, including solar photovoltaic curtailment, Thailand needs energy storage, which should be a combination of BESS and pumped hydro energy storage (PHES). The EGAT representative indicated that Thailand's tropical, hot, and humid climate narrows the efficiency gap between batteries and pumped hydro, as BESS assets require cooling. PHES is more suitable for applications requiring 4 to 12 hours of discharge duration, but it requires specific site topography and conditions for construction. Conversely, EGAT believes that batteries, with their faster response times, are better suited for performing system regulation applications such as frequency and voltage control, and smoothing the impact of large loads like data centers, within timeframes of 0.5 to 4 hours.
The long-awaited National Power Development Plan may include a BESS target of 26GWh by 2037. In addition to three existing PHES projects with a total capacity of approximately 8GWh, EGAT plans to deploy three more, forming a total fleet of 4GW/27.84GWh according to the draft 2024 PDP. Starting from only two currently operational BESS pilot projects (a 16MW/16MWh system in Chaiyaphum and a 21MW/21MWh system in Lopburi), the draft 2024 PDP targets the deployment of 10,485MW/26,010MWh of battery storage by 2037.
Dr. Pimpa Limthongkul, Director of the National Energy Technology Center (ENTEC) research institute and President of the Thailand Energy Storage Technology Association (TESTA), discussed the scientific rationale behind the proposed PDP climate and energy transition targets in the final keynote speech of the morning session, noting that in addition to renewable energy and energy storage development, Thailand must continue to adopt electrification technologies such as electric vehicles. She also stated that according to recent reports, the 70% clean energy target by 2050 could include 60% variable renewable energy (VRE) and 10% small modular nuclear reactors (SMRs). TESTA has convened three working groups to address specific issues hindering energy storage adoption: policy and promotion of energy storage use, end-of-life management, and safety and standards. When asked about the timeline for the PDP, Dr. Limthongkul stated that much of her presentation had to be based on figures from the 2018 PDP and reports that the new version might contain, but she expects the plan to pass through government approval steps in August and then pass through parliament and be released in October.
