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ENERGY
YUTHANA PRAIWAN
PTT Plc will begin selling E85 gasohol at one of its stations on Aug 29 and aims to make the fuel available at 15 of its stations in Greater Bangkok by the end of this year.
The fuel, a blend of 85% ethanol and 15% petrol, will make its debut at the PTT station near the Sukhumvit 62 expressway exit.
The only vehicle currently available locally that can run on E85 is the Volvo S40, for which import duties have been waived to encourage the fuel's use.
Prasert Bunsumpun, PTT president and chief executive, announced the E85 plan at a briefing on fuel quality testing at the company's research and development centre at Wang Noi, Ayutthaya.
The Finance Ministry has announced its support for the new ethanol-based fuel by eliminating import tax for flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) while offering a tax incentive for FFV production.
''In the initial phase, Swedish Motors will import around 200 to 300 units of S40 models to serve demand while production in Thailand has not yet finalised,'' said Mr Prasert.
The E85 price has not been set, but it will be at least 30% lower than premium petrol, based on prevailing tax rates.
Energy Minister Poonpirom Liptapanlop said E85 could cut 1.5 billion litres a year or around 45 billion baht of im ported oil if all petrol users switched.
Anusorn Sangnimnuan, the president of Bangchak Petroleum Plc, the market leader in green fuels, said his company aimed to start selling E85 in October, when FFV models imported by Volvo, Ford and BMW start entering the market.
''E85 needs at least two to three million baht per station for more facilities. We would rather wait for the imported cars to make a debut to ensure our investment returns,'' he said.
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