In recent years, Thailand has scaled up its ambition to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The country updated its Nationally Determined Contribution in 2022, committing to reduce GHG emissions by 30% by 2030 from 2005 levels, while continuing its efforts to meet the long-term goal of carbon neutrality by 2050 and net-zero GHG emissions by 2065. To achieve these objectives, Thailand’s Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) aims to increase new power generation capacity from renewables, as reaching carbon neutrality would require increasing the share of renewable electricity from 13% of total electricity generation in 2022 to 68% by 2040 and 74% by 2050.

The Clean Energy Finance and Investment Roadmap of Thailand (“the Roadmap”) is one of the key outputs of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)’s Clean Energy Finance and Investment Mobilisation (CEFIM) programme. Launched in 2019, the CEFIM programme aims to support governments in selected emerging economies in South and Southeast Asia, Latin America and Africa Colombia, Egypt, India, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Viet Nam. Please visit Clean Energy Finance and Investment Mobilisation - OECD for more information. to unlock finance and investment in clean energy, including renewable power and energy efficiency as well as industry decarbonisation.

Thailand has adopted ambitious clean energy targets to meet its long-term climate goals, committing to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2065. Transforming Thailand’s energy system is critical to meet Thailand’s climate goals, as the energy sector accounted for 69% of Thailand’s total GHG emissions in 2018, as well as broader development objectives, including access to affordable energy and job creation. To achieve its climate goals, Thailand’s Long-Term Low Emissions Development Strategy (LT-LEDS) includes a target to reach 50% of new power generation capacity from renewables by 2050. Thailand’s LT-LEDS estimates that the share of renewable electricity will be 68% of total electricity generation by 2040 and 74% by 2050. The country’s share of renewable energy was about 13% of total generation in 2022.

This Action Plan of the Clean Energy Finance and Investment Roadmap of Thailand (“the Roadmap Action Plan”) provides an overview of a strategic framework to unlock finance and investment in clean energy in Thailand. It outlines critical actions that the Government of Thailand could consider to mobilise financing in two main sectors: (i) renewable power, with a special attention to small-scale systems; and (ii) energy efficiency in buildings, with a focus on cooling applications.

This chapter presents Thailand’s economic context, emissions profile and its climate and energy ambitions and targets. It describes the governance and institutional context of Thailand’s energy policy as well as the structure of its electricity market, renewable energy potential and the main characteristics of its power mix. Finally, the chapter examines the renewable energy finance and investment landscape, focusing on policies and financial incentives on renewable energy as well as on sustainable finance, including analysis of Thailand’s sustainable finance taxonomy. The chapter ends with an overview of the latest trends on renewable energy investments in Thailand.

This chapter presents estimates of the finance and investment needed to implement and reach Thailand’s clean energy plans. The estimates result from modelling work of the Thai consultancy, The Creagy, which supported the OECD with the research and analysis conducted for this Roadmap. The chapter starts with an overview of Thailand’s latest renewable energy and energy efficiency plans as well as its energy outlook to 2037. The chapter then provides an overview of the estimates of the financing needs for both renewable energy and energy efficiency. The chapter also shows estimates of the local share and the supply chain distribution of the required investments in solar PV as well as in high-efficiency cooling systems. The chapter concludes with a summary of the estimated economic impact resulting from the implementation of the current clean energy plans, in terms of value added and job creation.

This chapter provides an overview of policies promoting investment in small-scale renewable power in Thailand. It examines the main financing, policy, regulatory and governance challenges as well as market development barriers. It also presents the main business models for rooftop solar PV that have emerged in Thailand. Based on a set of case studies of financing instruments deployed in other countries, the chapter also presents a series of potential financing models that could be explored in Thailand to de-risk small-scale renewable projects, such as credit guarantee schemes, aggregation and securitisation mechanisms and pay-as-you-go models. To support the Government of Thailand and key Thai stakeholders to promote and de-risk small-scale renewable power investment, the chapter ends with recommendations across three key pillars: (i) financial support; (ii) policy, regulation and governance; and (iii) capacity building, data collection and awareness-raising.

This chapter presents current trends in energy efficiency in Thailand’s building and cooling sectors and examines the policy and regulatory framework and targets for energy efficiency in buildings and cooling appliances. It also provides an overview of the key business models for energy efficiency projects in Thailand, as well as an analysis of the main financing barriers and regulatory challenges. Based on a set of case studies of financing instruments deployed in other countries, the chapter also presents a series of potential financing models that could be explored in Thailand to mobilise financing and investment for energy efficiency buildings and cooling systems, such as energy savings insurance, green bonds, on-bill financing, bulk procurement and green mortgages. The chapter ends with recommendations for the Government of Thailand and key Thai stakeholders across three key pillars: (i) financial support; (ii) policy, regulation and governance; and (iii) capacity building, data collection and awareness-raising.