Electricity Generating Plc (Egco) has several plans to develop clean energy, such as unlocking the power of ammonia and hydrogen as well as harnessing nuclear energy.
Mr Thepparat is pushing ahead with projects to use ammonia and hydrogen to fuel power generation.
As the power generation arm of state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, Egco is promoting clean energy projects to support campaigns worldwide aimed at slowing global warming, which is blamed for causing climate change.
The company supports the government's efforts to cut carbon dioxide emissions, following the pledge made by former prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow in 2021 that Thailand aims to achieve carbon neutrality, a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption, by 2050, along with a net-zero target, a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption, by 2065.
Egco president Thepparat Theppitak stressed the need to look for forms of clean fuel other than solar and wind energy, which are considered intermittent sources of power.
AMMONIA BREAKTHROUGH
Egco cooperated with several companies to study ways to use ammonia and hydrogen as alternative sources of fuel for its power generation operations.
The company teamed up with South Korea-based Doosan Enerbility Co to jointly conduct a feasibility study on ammonia usage at Egco's Quezon power plant in the Philippines, said Mr Thepparat.
Unlike ammonia produced by the Haber-Bosch technique, a century-old process that ensures fast production but emits huge amounts of carbon dioxide, a cleaner version of ammonia is derived from using renewable energy to drive a chemical reaction that produces the substance, according to an article posted on the Science website, sponsored by the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
This more eco-friendly method via a chemical reaction is efficient but slow.
Ammonia can be utilised as an alternative fuel because the chemical form is packed with energy density, nearly double that of liquid hydrogen. Ammonia can also be shipped and distributed more easily than liquid hydrogen.
When "cracked" into hydrogen, the chemical, with one nitrogen atom bonded to three hydrogen atoms, becomes a key source of energy for fuel cell vehicles.
Interested in the energy potential of ammonia and hydrogen, Egco earlier announced it signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with JERA Asia Pte, a subsidiary of JERA Inc, Japan's largest power company, to jointly conduct a study on ways to decarbonise Egco's businesses by using hydrogen and ammonia as fuels, as well as adopting carbon capture, utilisation and storage technology.
Egco and JERA Asia plan to jointly draft a broad carbon-neutral roadmap for Egco by using ammonia and hydrogen for electricity generation.
The two firms will study the use of ammonia co-firing technology at the BLCP power plant.
The 1,434-megawatt facility, located at the Map Ta Phut deep-sea port in Rayong, is co-owned by Egco and Banpu Power Plc, with each holding a 50% stake. The plant uses coal as its main fuel.
To adopt the co-firing technique, some of the coal supply will be replaced by ammonia to jointly run the plant's power generation.
IT'S A GAS
Egco also collaborated with a subsidiary of Mitsubishi Corporation to study and develop the value chain of hydrogen-related businesses in Australia.
Under the MoU, Egco and Hong Kong-based Diamond Generating Asia aim to produce green hydrogen at the 113MW Boco Rock wind farm in New South Wales, Australia, which is wholly owned by Egco.
Green hydrogen, which can be used to fuel power generation and manufacturing processes, is produced by using electricity made from renewable energy to split water molecules into oxygen and hydrogen.
"We believe hydrogen is another clean fuel, with a stable supply similar to gas and coal," said Mr Thepparat.
"We don't need to make a major change to power generators as we can start by using hydrogen, with a proportion of less than 20% of fuels used."
He said he is aware this method may increase costs for generating electricity, but he wants Egco to adopt the new technology to reap the benefits when clean fuel costs decrease in the future.
"We will not waste time," said Mr Thepparat, stressing the company will not be reluctant to try using alternative forms of clean energy.
FLAWS OF RENEWABLES
The use of ammonia and hydrogen to replace fossil fuels is needed to avoid overdependence on solar and wind energy, he said.
The sun and wind are useful sources of clean energy, but they cannot ensure a steady supply of power because they are largely determined by weather patterns. The wind may drop and the intensity of sunlight could decrease, which affects the ability to generate power.
"We should not be heavily dependent on wind and solar because of their intermittent power supply, which requires the need for back-up forms of energy," said Mr Thepparat.
If energy storage systems are installed to ensure clean electricity can serve people around the clock, the development costs of renewable power will increase sixfold, according to Egco's estimate.
This may cause the government, which also uses solar and wind power, to increase the power tariff when it sells electricity to businesses and households, he said.
According to the Energy Regulatory Commission, the cost of renewable energy represented almost 5% of the power tariff of 4.7 baht per kilowatt-hour, which was applicable between May and August this year.
Mr Thepparat said one way to reduce dependence on solar and wind power is to consider installing nuclear power technology, which uses radioactive material to generate power to replace the use of carbon-intensive fossil fuels.
Egco is conducting a feasibility study on small modular reactor (SMR) technology.
Unlike a large conventional reactor, with electricity generation capacity of 700MW, an SMR facility produces only 300MW per module.
"Nuclear, together with hydrogen energy, has the potential to help countries achieve their net-zero targets," he said.
Mr Thepparat said he believes the number of large conventional reactors will be gradually reduced, replaced by SMRs.
Thailand's energy authorities again included a nuclear power plant project in the new national power development plan (PDP) after previous attempts failed to develop this controversial form of energy.
The PDP, scheduled to take effect from 2023 to 2037, aims to promote and support greater use of renewable energy.
Under the PDP, the authorities are expected to develop two nuclear power generation facilities, with a combined capacity of 800MW, with operations estimated to start between 2036 and 2037, according to the Energy Policy and Planning Office.
