Thailand may struggle to meet energy needs with low gas production 

More than half of its power mix is sourced from gas-fired power plants. 

Thailand could fall short in meeting energy demands amidst its shrinking gas production, Fitch Solutions reported. 

In a report, Fitch noted that Thailand’s power supply is poorly diversified with 81% of its power mix coming from conventional thermal power. 

“The majority of the sector's power generation comes from the gas-fired power sector and we expect it to increase over the coming years as more gas-fired power plants come online,” the report read. 

“However, Thailand's shrinking domestic gas production will hamper the market's ability to meet power demand, especially since it plans to match growing power consumption with more gas-fired power plants.”

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Fitch observed that despite the commissioning of a 2.7-gigawatt gas-fired power plant in October 2022, Thailand recommissioned a coal-fired power unit in DEcember 2022. 

“We believe that this reflects that the growing capacity for gas-fired power generation is being met with a low gas supply,” Fitch said. 

On top of this, Thailand may  face additional supply woes as Myamnmar’s natural gas production is expected to decline in the coming years.