July 30, 2024 [Biodiesel Magazine]- Thailand’s newly proposed National Energy Plan is expected to set a target for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) starting in 2026, according to a report filed with the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service’s Global Agricultural Information Network in July. The plan also includes targets for ethanol and biodiesel.
According to the report, Thailand’s National Energy Policy Council has announced its intent to finalize the National Energy Plan, knowns as NEP 2024, by September. The plan includes various components, including one focused on oil and another referred to as the Alternative Energy Development Plan. The EPDP aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions via biofuel consumption target set at 2.76 billion (729.11 million gallons) by 2037.
According to the report, 675 million liters of that target is to be met through the consumption of SAF, with the targets for ethanol and biodiesel set at 1.185 billion liters and 900 million liters, respectively. The AEDP 2024 targets for ethanol and biodiesel are lower than the targets included in the AEDP 2018 or the draft AEDP 2022 due to the government’s increased focus on electric vehicles (EVs), the rail transport system, declining E20 consumption and the elimination of the mandatory B10 blend rate for diesel, the report explains.
Total biofuel consumption in Thailand reached approximately 2.892 billion liters in 2023, up 4% when compared to the previous year. The report attributes the increase to higher biodiesel consumption, which offset a reduction in on-road ethanol demand. The report predicts that biofuel consumption will increase 5% this year, reaching 3.03 billion liters due to increased demand for ethanol and biodiesel.
The AEDP 2024 would set the SAF blend rate at 1% in 2026, gradually increasing to 8% by 2036. The expected increases are based on Thailand’s projection of available domestic feedstocks of used cooking oil (UCO) and molasses-derived ethanol. According to the report, the government anticipates utilization of alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) SAF to be adopted when the blend rate reaches 3-8%. Until that point, the country plans to rely on UCO as the primary feedstock for domestic SAF production.
According to the report, Thailand had 27 ethanol plants in 2023 with a combined capacity of 1.97 billion liters, up from 26 facilities with a combined capacity of 1.95 billion liters in 2022. The number of facilities is expected to be maintained at 27 this year, but capacity is expected to increase to 2.03 billion liters. Capacity use is expected to be at 66% this year, compared to 66.3% in 2023 and 73% in 2022. Total production of fuel ethanol expected to 1.34 billion liters in 2024, compared to 1.306 billion liters in 2023 and 1.424 billion liters in 2022. Thailand does not currenlty import or export any fuel ethanol, according to the report.
he country also has 15 biodiesel plants, a number that has remained stable since 2022. Capacity was at 2.91 billion liters in both 2022 and 2023 and is expected to increase to 3.32 billion liters this year. Capacity use is expected to be at 53.3% this year, compared to 57% in 2023 and 47.8% in 2022. Biodiesel production was 1.391 billion liters in 2022, increased to 1.67 billion liters in 2023 and is expected to reach 1.77 billion liters in 2024. No imports of biodiesel have been reported since 2020, with exports at 9 million liters in 2022, 56 million liters in 2023 and expected to reach 65 million liters this year.
According to the report, Thailand’s first SAF facility will be owned by Bangchak Corp. Public Co. Ltd. The plant is currently expected to become operational during the first quarter of next year and will have the capacity to produce 1 million liters per day of SAF from UCO feedstock.
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