An Irresponsible Path to Net Zero: A Critique of Draft PDP 2026

Thailand’s Power Development Plan (PDP) is one of the country’s most important development frameworks for the next 20–25 years. It determines where Thailand’s electricity will come from, how much consumers will pay for electricity, and how much greenhouse gas the country will emit. Draft PDP2026, released on 8 September 2026, is therefore a development plan that has drawn close attention from many stakeholders.

The draft contains several important improvements, including alignment of its climate objectives with Thailand’s net-zero target, the adoption of a new electricity-reliability standard, and four pathways for developing the country’s power generation capacity. Yet critical questions remain about costs, risks and who will ultimately bear the burden of electricity bills.

This report is divided into two parts.

The first part examines the power-development plan for 2026–2037. It requires the same 50,900 MW of new generating capacity to be built under all pathways, with natural-gas power plants accounting for the largest share. This risks locking Thailand into fossil fuels and raising the future cost of transitioning to a low-carbon economy.

The second part analyses the four pathways set out in the PDP. Three of the four continue to depend on LNG, coal and bets on technologies that have not yet been proven in Thailand, such as carbon capture and storage (CCS) and small modular reactors (SMRs). Meanwhile, the renewable-energy pathway that does not rely on CCS is the least costly option, according to the plan’s own figures.

Download the full analysis to explore why decarbonisation under draft PDP2026 could cost more than it should, and why several aspects of this power-development plan’s design are concerning and could affect electricity bills in Thailand over the long term.