Bundit Limmeechokchai

Sustainable energy development strategies: implications of energy demand management and renewable energy in Thailand

A brief review of energy use patterns in three economic sectors; namely, residential, industrial and transport sectors is provided in this paper. The transport sector is the largest energy-consuming sector in Thailand, followed by the industrial and residential sectors, respectively. In order to reduce both imported energy and environmental emissions, energy conservation programs would be implemented. This paper forecasts the growth in energy demand and corresponding emissions to the year 2020 for those three sectors by using a model based on the end-use approach. The energy savings from the energy conservation strategies, such as energy efficiency improvement and energy demand management, are assessed and also the implications on electricity generation expansion planning are examined. The integrated resource planning (IRP) model is used to find the least-cost electricity generation expansion plans. Energy conservation options, including energy efficiency improvement programs, are introduced in the residential and industrial sectors. Public transportation and engine technology improvements are introduced in the transport sector. The effects of energy conservation options are analyzed using a scenario-based approach. The results of analysis reveal that the improvement of public transportation can reduce future energy requirements and CO2 emissions in 2020 by 635 thousand ton of oil equivalent (toe) and 2024 thousand ton of CO2 equivalent, respectively. If all options are simultaneously implemented, the potential of energy savings and CO2 mitigation in 2020 are estimated to be 1240 thousand toe and 3622 thousand ton of CO2 equivalent, respectively.

Impacts of biomass power generation and CO2 taxation on electricity generation expansion planning and environmental emissions

Thailand has a high potential to utilize renewable energy for electricity generation especially from agricultural waste; however, at present only a small fraction of biomass is used for energy purposes. This study aims to estimate the potential of biomass power generation and its impact on power generation expansion planning as well as mitigating carbon dioxide emission from the power sector. The harvest area and crop yield per area are taken into consideration to estimate the future biomass availability. The supplies of biomass are then applied as a constraint in the least cost electricity generation expansion-planning model. The cost of CO2 emissions is also added to the fuel costs as carbon taxation to make biomass power generation competitive to fossil fuels, then the optimum value of CO2 charge is found out. In addition, levels of CO2 limitation from power generation are also introduced to mitigate CO2 emissions.

Application of cool storage air-conditioning in the commercial sector: an integrated resource planning approach for power capacity expansion planning and emission reduction

An assessment is presented of the evaluation of the application of cool storage air-conditioning (CSA) in the commercial sector as a resource in the electricity generation expansion planning. The resultant impacts of analysis of emission costs on annual emissions from power generation are also discussed. A building energy simulation tool is used for assessment of potential savings and peak load shifting of CSA application in commercial buildings. In this study, an integrated resource planning (IRP) model is used to evaluate the economic effectiveness of the CSA option. The IRP analysis with emission costs results in deferring the installation of four units of 1000-MW coal-fired power plant from 2010 to 2011, and one unit of 1000-MW coal-fired power plant and one 200-MW CSA option are removed from the IRP plan. Results show that the CSA option is a viable resource in the least-cost planning and reducing environmental emissions.

A proposal for transmission pricing methodology in Thailand based on electricity tracing and long-run average incremental cost

Although there is no universally accepted methodology for restructuring of electricity supply industry, the transformations often involve separation of generation and transmission. Such separation results in a need for a transmission service charge to be levied on the system users. The National Energy Policy Office (NEPO) of Thailand has commissioned PricewaterhouseCooper (PwC) to propose a transmission service charge that is to be used during the market reform for the transmission business unit of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). Although the PwCs transmission use of system charge (TUOS) based on the long-run average incremental cost (LRAIC) and average transmission loss can satisfy the financial requirements, the charge allocations are not economically efficient since they do not provide any locational signal which could reflect costs imposed on the system by locating a system user in a particular geographical location. This paper describes the TUOS methodology suggested by PwC and makes a comparison with a transmission pricing method based on combination of the electricity tracing and LRAIC. The results indicate that, with electricity tracing, the charge allocations are improved in terms of fairness, as the charge reflects the geographical location and system conditions.

Low carbon transportation in Thailand: CO2 mitigation strategy in 2050.

Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Actions (NAMAs) involve the collaboration on reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in developing countries with suitable countermeasures relevant to the state of technological and economic conditions prevalent in the country. This study proposes appropriate GHG countermeasures in Thai transport NAMAs, which are based on the implementation of transport demand management, modal shift, fuel switching, and advanced technologies in the timeframe between 2005 and 2050. Furthermore, this study considers the impacts of CO2 mitigation through the proposed countermeasures on energy security and GHG emissions. Results of analyses on low carbon transportation are also useful to other developing countries. Finally, the concept of marginal abatement cost is employed to investigate cost-effective mitigation countermeasures.

A proposal for annual power fee in Thailand based on electricity tracing methodology

Abstract It is envisaged that by 2003 electrical energy in Thailand will be freely traded under the new electricity supply industry (ESI) structure. The transmission use of system charge will be based on the short run marginal cost (SRMC). The well-known issue with the SRMC is its inability to recover the embedded cost of the transmission system. To recover such cost, the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) proposed an annual power fee based on the proportion of generation and demand in each zone. As such fee gives a crude signal towards investment in a particular zone, in this paper application of the electricity tracing methodology has been investigated. Tracing-based fee can be seen as a refinement of the crude fee based on the proportion of zonal generation and demand as it takes into account how the zonal imbalance of generation and demand loads up transmission facilities in other zones. In addition, the paper provides an alternative combined zonal and nodal annual power fee where the nodal component of the annual power fee provides an additional signal towards a balanced location of generation and demand within a zone. Analysis of the results for Thai system has confirmed that the proposed methodology provides intended signals.

Integrated Resource Planning for Long-term Electricity Supply in Selected GMS Countries, Part 1:Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

The scarcity of fossil fuel to supply the high growth in energy demand in the selected Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) is leading to the concern about future electricity supply. The effect of the high fossil fuel price on the global market would lead to limitation in economic development in this region. In 2007, most countries in the selected GMS, namely Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam, used abundant fossil fuels in electricity generation. Fossil fuels used in power generation accounted for 90%, 85%, 60%, and 1.5% in Cambodia, Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos, respectively. This study includes the integrated resource planning (IRP) concept into the long-term power planning. IRP is the most appropriate approach that applied to both demand and supply sides. To curb the high growth in electricity demand, the demand-side management options are taken into account. To reduce the high dependency on imported fossil fuel, the domestic renewable energy resources and reduction in transmission and distribution losses are introduced. Results of this study were analyzed by using the Long-range Energy Alternatives Planning system model. Results reveal that under the IRP concept, the selected GMS countries could save the installed power capacity of 5,780 MW by 2030.

An Assessment of Energy Efficiency Programs in Thai Commercial and Industrial Sectors

An assessment of benefits of the implementation of demand-side management (DSM) and energy efficiency programs to the commercial and industrial sectors in Thailand is presented, and the corresponding impacts on power-generation expansion planning and emissions are discussed. The reference building models were simulated to capture energy consumption patterns of the medium and large commercial buildings in Thailand. Nine subsectors in the industrial sector, classified according to the international standard codes, are modeled and analyzed through the technoeconomic approach. Scenarios of the energy efficiency programs in Thailand are applied to the commercial and industrial sectors to investigate the potential of energy savings. Control technologies of airborne emissions from the utilization of fossil fuels in the power sector are also applied. Finally, a least-cost electricity expansion model is used to generate new generation plans. Features of the resultant plans include a significant reduction in the required power capacity addition and airborne emissions of fossil-fired power plants compared to a reference plan.An assessment of benefits of the implementation of demand-side management (DSM) and energy efficiency programs to the commercial and industrial sectors in Thailand is presented, and the corresponding impacts on power-generation expansion planning and emissions are discussed. The reference building models were simulated to capture energy consumption patterns of the medium and large commercial buildings in Thailand. Nine subsectors in the industrial sector, classified according to the international standard codes, are modeled and analyzed through the technoeconomic approach. Scenarios of the energy efficiency programs in Thailand are applied to the commercial and industrial sectors to investigate the potential of energy savings. Control technologies of airborne emissions from the utilization of fossil fuels in the power sector are also applied. Finally, a least-cost electricity expansion model is used to generate new generation plans. Features of the resultant plans include a significant reduction in the re...

CO2 mitigation in Thailand’s low-carbon society: The potential of renewable energy

ABSTRACT This study aims at the development of Thailand’s low-carbon society in 2030 by using the Asia-Pacific Integrated Model/Extended Snap Shot model for analysis of greenhouse gas (GHG) mitigation through renewable energy (RE) utilization. This article presents the potentials of RE in power generation, industrial, and transport sectors in Thailand for GHG mitigation in 2030. The deployment of the RE sources is used in the analyses with potentials of mini-hydro of 390 MW, wind power of 960 MW, solar power of 600 MW, biomass energy of 4,400 MW, biogas power of 144 MW, waste to power of 192 MW, bioenergy of 4,634 ktoe, and RE for thermal of 8,088 ktoe in 2030. According to the proposed development, the amount of GHG emissions is estimated based on business-as-usual (BAU) without mitigation measures and countermeasures with GHG mitigation options of adopted RE technologies available during 2005–2030. Results show that annual GHG emissions in the base year of 2005 are 185,983 kt-CO2. In 2030 the GHG emissions in the BAU scenario will increase to 563,730 kt-CO2 or 3.03 times higher than the base year 2005. The GHG emissions in the 2030 can be decreased dramatically to 443,043 kt-CO2, and accounted for 21.4% of GHG reduction by deployment of RE technologies.

Trends of energy intensity and CO2 emissions in the Thai industrial sector: The decomposition analysis

ABSTRACT This article investigates the components of CO2 emission changes in Thai industries by using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) approach. The analyses of historical trends during the period 1990–2007 show the key factors influencing CO2 emissions. Changes in CO2 emissions can be decomposed into five effects: activity, structural, energy intensity, fuel share, and emission effects. In this study Thai industries are categorized into nine subindustries: nonmetallic, chemical, food and beverage, fabricated metal, textile, basic metal, paper and pulp, wood and furniture, and others (unclassified) industries. This study considers CO2 emissions from five fuel types: coal, petroleum, natural gas, renewable energy, and electricity. In 2007, results show that CO2 emissions increased by 129.3% when compared with the 1990 level. Results also show that the nonmetallic, chemical, basic metal, and fabricated metal industries are the major CO2 emitters. Finally, results indicate that policy measures on efficiency improvement would result in CO2 mitigation in Thai industries.