Abstract:
Thailand’s energy challenge as a hot, urbanised economy with large processing industries driving cooling, refrigeration, and low-temperature process heat accounting for 40–70% of peak electricity. This drives over capacity, grid congestion, costs, and emissions. Geothermal’s role in Thailand demonstrates that the opportunity is real, scalable, misunderstood.
Thailand is not volcanic and operates a 30 year old geothermal plant (300 kW Fang). National electricity planning (PDP) does not include geothermal. However, Thailand possesses strong shallow and moderate geothermal gradients (25–40 °C/km in central and eastern regions; up to 70 °C/km in the north). For Thailand the opportunity is deploying long-life thermal infrastructure through Organic Ranking Cycle (ORC). ground-source heat pumps (GSHP), aquifer thermal energy storage (ATES), absorption cooling, and direct-use heat. Screening indicates 3–6 GW of distributed cooling potential beneath Bangkok, the Eastern Economic Corridor, and major northern cities - delivering cooling, freezing, and low-temperature process heat as utility services, with electricity generation optional.
Turkey, the most relevant analogue, has deployed over 4,000 MWₜₕ of geothermal heat capacity, supplying municipalities, hospitals, universities, and district networks. Balçova operates at ~130 °C with doublet designs, delivering heating and cooling for decades with utility-style ownership, standardised designs, and anchored institutions. Similar outcomes are observed in Europe, China, and ME, where geothermal succeeds, not power.
Oil and gas subsurface and project-delivery skills are essential to scale geothermal — including drilling, well integrity, reservoir management, and cost control — but must be applied with caution as Geothermal is a utility business with thermal resource complexities.
With modular, mature technologies in 1–20 MW blocks, geothermal systems integrate into existing chilled-water, district cooling, and industrial heat networks, displacing 25–50% of electricity. Priority applications in Thailand include food processing and freezing (700–1,200 MW-cooling nationally), universities, hospitals and industrial parks.
Geothermal in Thailand is relevant and can change the game for the country but it not a power story — it is a thermal utility cooling and heat infrastructure solution
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