Thailand’s gas conundrum: Overbuilt, underutilized, and increasingly expensive
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Key Findings
Existing natural gas-fired power plants in Thailand are highly underutilized. In 2025, seven privately owned gas plants operated under a capacity factor of 10%. Most contracted plants have shown declining dispatch rates over the last three years, with several generating almost no electricity.
Thailand’s seven underused gas plants, totaling over 11 gigawatts (GW) of capacity, have cost the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) and ratepayers THB159 billion (USD5.02 billion) since 2023.
The Government of Thailand still aims to bring 6.3GW of new gas-fired capacity online by 2037. However, nearly all proposed projects face extensive delays, and in 2025, EGAT canceled tenders for three projects. Moreover, global gas turbine shortages are delaying projects around the region and have tripled capital costs in recent years.
The increasing dependence on more expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports, combined with a spike in capital costs for new gas plants, presents challenges that could significantly change the economics of Thailand’s gas expansion plans.
Executive Summary
In recent years, Thailand’s gas-to-power sector has faced increasing barriers, including underutilization, project delays, and rising gas supply costs. In October 2025, Thailand’s National Energy Policy Council (NEPC) suspended the operation of four power plants1, including three gas-fired facilities totaling 4 gigawatts (GW), and delayed the commissioning of a 0.6GW facility. Citing an oversupply of electricity, the NEPC plans to commission the delayed facility in 2029 and resume operations of the existing facilities after that year.
Shortly after the power pause, Thailand approved its updated nationally determined contribution (NDC) in November 2025.2 This climate plan envisions reducing the country’s net emissions by 47% from 2019 levels by 2035 and achieving net zero emissions by 2050.
The suspension of gas plants, combined with the more ambitious emission-reduction targets set out in Thailand’s latest NDC, demands a reassessment of gas expansion plans. The next Power Development Plan (PDP) is expected to be released in 2026.3 While the Draft Power Development Plan 2024 (Draft PDP2024) was not finalized, an overly ambitious economic growth trajectory called for a 6.3GW expansion of gas-fired capacity between 2028 and 2037.4
Under Thailand’s Draft Gas Plan 2024, this could require imports of expensive liquefied natural gas (LNG) to nearly double over the next two decades, depending on the success of planned exploration. This would exacerbate the economic burden of LNG that stakeholders are unwilling to shoulder and shift the country off course from achieving its desired climate commitments.
As Thailand seeks to develop energy plans that are aligned with its updated NDC5, policymakers should move beyond past frameworks that have shaped the country’s current approach. The overexpansion of gas-fired power plants, combined with lower production of cheaper, domestic gas, has led to a doubling of LNG’s share in the gas supply. Establishing a framework to spread this cost across users without causing hardship to households or strategic sectors is proving difficult.
The current gas pause presents an opportunity to recalibrate and deliver Thailand towards a more affordable and sustainable energy future.
[1] Bangkok Post. Weak demand results in suspension of 4 power plants. 29 October 2025.
[2] Argus Media. Thailand advances net zero emissions target to 2050. 04 November 2025.
[3] Bangkok Post. Egat to backstop clean power supply. 09 January 2026.
[4] Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO). Draft Power Development Plan 2024. 20 June 2024. Page 45.
[5] The Nation. Energy Minister plans new committee to drive Thailand’s Net Zero goals and Power Development Plan. 03 October 2025.
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