Mastering energy puzzle to ensure Thailand’s power security in transitional era
Times change, things change, and so does the global energy landscape. The world is now steering the course from fossil fuels toward clean energy, driven by climate change. Technological advancements are also enhancing renewable energy (RE) capabilities and reducing costs, making clean energy more accessible. These factors are conducive to increasing the share of RE. However, most of the electrical power consumed in Thailand is still generated from fossil fuels. A major challenge in the clean energy transition is therefore managing the growth of RE, while reducing fossil fuel dependency. As a clean energy transition is not an absolute answer to sustainability issues, it must go hand in hand with energy security.
Under its mission to maintain the security of power system, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has balanced energy management, power system security, and sustainability through several key components. Like pieces of an “energy puzzle” put together to form a complete picture; fuels, power plants, and the transmission system are among these elements. There is also another puzzle piece that is indispensable for ensuring seamless connection between all the other pieces: grid modernization, which advances energy management and the power system. To increase flexibility in response to the future power system, EGAT is putting together pieces of the energy puzzle.
“Fuel,” First Piece of Energy Puzzle
Choosing fuels is like placing the first piece of the puzzle, marking the initial step of the country’s Power Development Plan (PDP). The PDP is a long-term framework that considers all key dimensions, including the economy, the environment, energy security, and technologies. Thailand currently utilizes a diversified energy mix, from fossil fuels to RE. Natural gas remains the primary fuel for power generation, ensuring energy security and generation continuity. EGAT generates electricity from natural gas with a consideration of cost-effectiveness. The natural gas is derived from both domestic and imported sources. LNG is also imported to help reduce fuel costs and enhance energy security. Besides, low-cost domestic “coal” plays a vital role in maintaining the electricity tariff during energy crises. Other kinds of fuels are used for diversification and risk allocation, as well.
In addition, EGAT plans to apply Hydrogen Co-firing, combining hydrogen with natural gas, for 5% share of power generation to reduce the use of fossil fuels. Also, the development of Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology is underway as an alternative energy source to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the power sector.
“Baseload + Auxiliary Power Plants,” Key Pieces for Nationwide Power Supply
Baseload power plants are still regarded as the main pillars of Thailand’s energy system in the transitional era toward clean energy, including thermal and combined-cycle power plants. This type of power plants is located across the country to ensure the power security of all regions, meet local demands, and diminish energy loss from long-distance power transmission.
Meanwhile, RE power plants serve as auxiliary power plants operating during peak-demand periods, e.g., hydropower, pumped storage, due to their quick ramp-up speed to meet increasing demands timely.
“Transmission System,” Connecting Piece with Users
Like the aorta in the human circulatory system, the transmission system serves as the main artery of the energy system, connecting energy sources and transmitting electrical power generated to the Metropolitan Electricity Authority (MEA) and the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) for the distribution to residences, businesses, and industries nationwide. Predictive maintenance is conducted by EGAT to ensure that the transmission system remains in proper condition and fully operational at optimum efficiency. EGAT plans to expand its transmission system covering high-demand economic zones such as the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), which includes an upcoming investment in data centers with an expected power demand of over 5,000 MW and industrial and tourist areas of Samui Island. Furthermore, the transmission system is being developed to cope with the growth of RE, which causes increasing voltage fluctuations in the power grid. EGAT also intends to apply a Static Synchronous Compensator (Statcom), enabling automatic high-low voltage control within milliseconds for the stability of the system’s voltage.
“Grid Modernization,” Essential Piece to Complete the Energy Security
Grid modernization is an essential piece of the puzzle that completes the power system. EGAT has applied various technologies for energy management and grid modernization in response to the increasing RE. Energy storage systems (ESS) can store electrical power and supply it back to the system when the RE sources are unable to generate electricity. The Renewable Energy Forecast Center (REFC) has been established to provide advanced forecasting of RE output, enabling main power plants to adjust their generating capacity accordingly. The Demand Response Control Center (DRCC) helps control the demands of large-scale power users during peak demand periods. EGAT has also upgraded its main power plants into flexible power plants for a better response to the system. All these efforts aim at enhancing flexibility and stability to support the power system’s control. Besides, EGAT is developing a Virtual Power Plant (VPP) Platform to aggregate Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) into a new power ecosystem to optimize the flexibility of electricity management.
Each piece of the energy puzzle, i. e., fuels, power plants, transmission system, grid modernization, is put together to form a perfect combination that overcomes the weakness of RE fluctuations, drives the security of power system of Thailand, moves the country toward the goals of Carbon Neutrality and Net Zero Emissions, and supports the country’s clean energy transition with security, seamlessness, and sustainability.