H.E. General Anantaporn Kanjanarat

FDI Spotlight: Could you please outline how your Ministry fits in the overall role of Thai energy development and what your responsibility to the nation will be?

The Ministry of Energy is responsible for all energy here in the nation. We have 5 long-term plans for 2015 to 2036 called the Thailand Integrated Energy Blueprint (TIEB). These consist of the Power Development Plan (PDP), Alternative Energy Development Plan, Gas Plan, and Oil Plan.

We have clear targets set for each plan of TIEB. The goal for the power development plan is to construct more power plants in order to serve the demand of household, industry, and transportation networks. The plan is to diversify energy sources to reduce the dependency on gas and focus more on renewable energy and coal. The target is to have at least 30% of all energy in Thailand to be renewable by 2036. We support many different kinds of energy including solar, wind, biomass, biogas, and waste-to-energy. For two years now we have been working on this plan and can already see that the capacity of renewable energy is growing faster than our expectations. We understand the importance of balancing cost and sustainability and are currently developing more policies to monitor this correctly.

Speaking about energy efficiency, we have experienced difficulties supplying the necessary energy needed to serve the demand. If we can educate people about the importance of efficient energy use to save energy, we can decrease supply in order to save energy and reserve our resources. We plan to reduce or save at least 30% of the total energy by 2036. We will promote energy efficiency in all five plans of the TIEB and also ensure fair price competition.

By reflecting the actual cost of energy, we can increase competiveness within the market and further help to secure the industry supply.

The oil and gas plan aims to stabilise drilling for oil and gas in Thailand for energy purposes, to help move away from importing energy from neighbouring countries.

FDI Spotlight: What is your approach to clean coal generation?

This is one of our major concerns as we have witnessed severe air pollution caused by coal power plants in the past. We have learned from this experience and are now focused on clean coal energy generation using the latest technology, Ultra Super Critical Technology. We believe that this technology allows us to generate the cleanest coal energy with minimal damage to the environment. This is also a huge benefit for the community as it allows people to live free of worry regarding their health and environmental impacts.

FDI Spotlight: What is the Ministry’s vision regarding nuclear power generation?

With the PDP we created a goal to have 5% of the power in Thailand to be nuclear. We have conducted some studies and have found that more research and planning is a necessity before proceeding with nuclear. Our aim is to start with this plan in the period between 2035 and 2036. However, for now our focus is on TIEB.

FDI Spotlight: How do you promote education and the importance of research, development and innovation in the energy sector?

We see importance in and fully support education with regards to renewable energy and energy efficiency. Our Energy Conservation Fund consists of approximately 20-30 billion Thai Baht. We allocate this budget to Universities and also to the private sector for research and development purposes related to energy conservation and the development of new technologies. We believe this will help to support the renewable energy goals and is therefore directly related to the TIEB.

FDI Spotlight: Do you believe that currently the Thai education sector meets the market demand in the energy sector with the fast-moving technologies?

We educate people more in terms of renewable energy for employment. Regardless of new technologies, we still have a need for skilled manpower. Thailand needs to educate people so we can meet the market demand to be able to grow and become more competitive internationally. The Ministry of Education already has the plans ready to put this in effect. Entrepreneurs will also be able to collaborate with the Ministry of Labour and with the Ministry of Education as well by educating their employees to help foster more skilled labour for the energy sector.

FDI Spotlight: What impact do you believe the AEC has had on the energy sector here in Thailand and in other countries in the region?

Thailand benefits greatly as we are right in the heart of the region. We have recently held a meeting to link power grid and transmission lines to every ASEAN country. The construction plans to build new power grids and transmission lines have been agreed upon and Thailand is now following up with its plan by investing greatly to have this established. This increase in connectivity will have many benefits for each country. For example if for some reason there is an electricity failure in the future, we will be able to transfer electricity to each other to help compensate. The grid and transmission lines will be linked from Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, Myanmar, Malaysia, and Singapore. This will help secure the energy supply not only in Thailand, but throughout all of ASEAN as well.

FDI Spotlight: Do you believe that Thailand could be known as a role model of the region in terms of sustainable development?

Thailand’s energy is very developed in terms of renewable energy. We have been investing greatly in R&D to ensure that rural areas are free of electricity shortages. Not only do we want to guarantee that the entire nation can use our technologies, the agricultural sector and the countryside must also be taken into account. Other countries could learn from us in this sense. We do believe that Thailand can be the renewable energy role model of the region, especially since Thai universities have invested studying this area for many years, particularly looking at waste-to-energy.

FDI Spotlight: Do you believe that Thailand’s energy companies are ready to take a leading role in surrounding countries?

There are many investors and partners in Thailand for drilling oil and gas. PTTEP is cooperating with other regions in the Gulf of Thailand and the Andaman Sea. When it comes to renewable energy, specifically solar and wind, we are now cooperating with neighbouring countries as well.

FDI Spotlight: What is your message of confidence for people who are looking to come to Thailand for investment?

In 2015 the Energy sector has had a capital expenditure of about 570,000 million Thai Baht. This is a remarkable amount for investment in comparison to other sectors. We expect investments in pipelines and transmission lines only to increase next year. I would like to welcome investors here to bid on projects to help increase competition. In turn, this will help the security of Thai energy in ASEAN. We are hopeful to increase the capital expenditure to approximately 600,000 million Thai Baht next year.