The 2024 power development plan (PDP) may need significant adjustments to develop better ways to manage Thailand's long-term power supply and strengthen the country's fight against global warming, says Prasert Sinsukprasert, permanent secretary of the Energy Ministry.
The PDP is currently being considered by the Energy Policy and Planning Office, which will forward it for approval by the National Energy Policy Council, chaired by Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra.
The possibility of changing the PDP is mainly due to disagreement among energy experts, though the plan has already passed through a public hearing.
Energy Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga also did not give an "active response" to the plan, Mr Prasert said on Wednesday.
Under the PDP, power demand in Thailand is expected to increase to 112,391 megawatts at the end of the plan set for 2037, up from 51,000MW at present.
"The volume is viewed as being too high by critics who are worried it will cause big investment burdens on the government," said Mr Prasert.
According to the critics, the PDP is designed to promote greater use of renewable power, but its proportion is insufficient to support the government's anti-global warming campaign.
Under the PDP, renewable energy is set to comprise 51% of total fuel use by 2037, up from 20% at the end of last year, while coal and gas should fall to 48%, down from nearly 80% as of early this year.
The other 1% comes from nuclear energy and new energy solutions aimed at reducing fossil fuel usage and saving electricity.
Former premier Prayut Chan-o-cha announced in 2021 at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference that Thailand would be more aggressive in addressing climate change, striving to reach carbon neutrality, a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption, by 2050, along with a net-zero target, a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption, by 2065.
Mr Prasert said that Mr Pirapan will formally announce whether the PDP will be adjusted next year.
In another issue, the Energy Ministry is also planning to select Thai and foreign companies interested in petroleum exploration and production in the Andaman Sea within the first quarter of next year.
Mr Prasert said it is possible to find new petroleum sources near current offshore gas fields in Myanmar.