Real Choices or False Choices: Thailand’s Draft Power Plan and Fossil Fuel Lock-In Through 2037

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Thailand’s draft Power Development Plan 2026 (PDP2026) sets out the country’s electricity pathway from 2026 to 2050. It is divided into two phases:

  • Phase 1: 2026–2037
    All four cases follow the same plan: adding 50,900 MW of new generation capacity, including 9,100 MW of new gas-fired capacity.
  • Phase 2: 2038–2050
    The four cases begin to diverge, with different electricity-generation mixes and emissions-reduction technologies.

This raises a critical question: if every pathway locks in the same investments until 2037, how much choice does Thailand really have?

Climate Finance Network Thailand (CFNT) invites you to a two-part webinar on Thailand’s draft PDP2026. 

Part 1: CFNT will present findings from An Irresponsible Path to Net Zero: A Critique of Draft PDP 2026. The presentation  examine three key risks identified in the report:

  • Fossil-fuel lock-in: New gas capacity could commit Thailand to imported fossil fuels and long-term costs for decade, in which the public has no option. 
  • Unpriced: The plan does not fully account for risks such as LNG price volatility and carbon costs.
  • Unproven and Unnamed technologies: The plan relies on technologies including carbon capture and storage (CCS) and small modular reactors (SMRs), whose costs and feasibility remain uncertain. It also includes an unnamed technology that enters the tariff comparison at no additional cost.

Part 2: For the first time, this discussion brings together perspectives from a member of the PDP2026 drafting committee, experts in energy policy and just transition, and a journalist working on public communication and participation.

  • Dr. Areeporn Asawinpongphan, Research Fellow, Energy Policy  TDRI and Member of PDP 2026 Drafting Committee
  • Nawapat Udomwatchararatsamee, Project Manager, Energy Policy, Agora Energiewende
  • Suchart Klaikaew, Program Lead, IKI JET Thailand, GIZ
  • Santichai Apornsri, Editor and Co-founder, Rocket Media Lab
  • Moderator: Thanida Lawseriwanich, Head of Research, CFNT

Details

Date: Wednesday, 11 November 2026

Time: 10:00 – 12:00, Bangkok Time

Platform: Microsoft Team Webinar

Language: Thai

Register: https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/c08c3378-aa99-49b6-bf4f-c8b965080855@51f14caf-5558-4433-ba4f-1a296f641aa0

Climate Finance Network Thailand (CFNT)