Published on 17/11/2014
Fuelling the future
Energy-hungry economies in Southeast Asia are pursuing reforms as most have limited resources at home, but they still face major challenges to diversify energy sources while still sustaining economic growth, say policy planners and experts. In Thailand, which relies heavily on imported energy, the new military government intends to introduce third-party access to the gas transmission system and transfer its ownership to a company partly owned by the national energy conglomerate. The PTT monopoly on gas transmission has long been a target of activists such as the Group of 40 senators, whose views are closely aligned with those of the military regime. Third-party access would allow gas suppliers to contract directly with users in the power and industrial sectors, said Thomas Parkinson, a partner at the Lantau Group, a Hong Kong-based economic consultancy specialising in energy and infrastructure. "These higher marginal prices might stimulate the domestic gas supply industry to bring more gas to market, thereby backing out imported LNG (liquefied natural gas)," he said. Thailand's Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) hopes to finish drafting a third-party access (TPA) code for gas pipelines and LNG service stations by March and put it into practice later on. If the code attracts new players, the entire transmission network would operate more efficiently, with more competition leading to lower prices for gas users, commissioner Veeraphol Jirapraditkul has said. While gas transmission and pricing have been contentious, Thailand's long-term plans for electricity generation have also encountered opposition since coal will still play a role. Governments elsewhere in Asean have been able to convince the public that new technology has made coal plants cleaner. State-of-the-art air quality