Energy Ministry Cuts Data Center Demand to 8.8GW in PDP 2026

MGR Online•Economy•29m ago

Reader Briefing

The Ministry of Energy is reducing projected electricity demand for data centers to 8.8 gigawatts in the PDP 2026 draft plan to prevent over-investment in infrastructure.

•The Ministry of Energy reduced the data center electricity demand figure from 35 gigawatts to 8.8 gigawatts for the PDP 2026 plan.
•EGAT will invest approximately 1 billion USD to upgrade the power grid to a two-way dynamic grid.
•The PDP 2026 plan shifts the power security measurement from Reserve Margin to Loss of Load Expectation (LOLE).
•The Ministry of Energy spoke at the Gastech 2026 event on September 16, 2026.

Overview

•On September 16, 2026, Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen spoke at the Gastech 2026 event regarding long-term demand forecasting.
•The Ministry of Energy identified that current electricity requests from data centers total 35 gigawatts, which Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen described as phantom demand.
•The Ministry of Energy has included a revised electricity usage figure of 8.8 gigawatts for data centers in the draft Power Development Plan (PDP 2026).
•The PDP 2026 plan will incorporate a Solar Rooftop policy for 1 million households, adding over 5,000 megawatts of production capacity.
•EGAT will allocate approximately 1 billion USD, or 35,000 million baht, to upgrade the electrical grid, particularly in the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
•The Ministry of Energy is upgrading to a two-way dynamic grid because clean energy is volatile based on weather conditions.
•The Ministry of Energy will integrate real-time data between PEA, MEA, EGAT, and ERC to create a data backbone.
•The Ministry of Energy will enforce the Grid Code to ensure data centers manage their own systems before relying on the public grid.

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Key Quotes

Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen

"It is the duty of the Ministry of Energy to have strict screening measures to separate unrealistic demand."

เป็นหน้าที่ของกระทรวงพลังงาน ที่จะต้องมีมาตรการคัดกรองอย่างเข้มงวดเพื่อแยกความต้องการที่ไม่เป็นความจริงออกไป

Key Entities

Person

Pongpol Yodmuangcharoen(พงศ์พล ยอดเมืองเจริญ)

Spokesperson for the Ministry of Energy.

Organization

Ministry of Energy(กระทรวงพลังงาน)ℹ️

The government body responsible for filtering electricity demand and overseeing the PDP 2026 plan.

EGAT(กฟผ.)ℹ️

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, which is investing 1 billion USD to improve the power grid.

PEA(กฟภ.)

An electricity agency involved in the integration of a real-time data backbone.

MEA(กฟน.)

An electricity agency involved in the integration of a real-time data backbone.

ERC(กกพ.)

An electricity agency involved in the integration of a real-time data backbone.

Policy

Power Development Plan (PDP 2026)(แผนพัฒนากำลังการผลิตไฟฟ้าของประเทศ (PDP 2026))

The national plan that sets electricity demand targets and changes security measurement criteria.

Place

Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC)(ระเบียงเศรษฐกิจพิเศษภาคตะวันออก (EEC))

A specific area where EGAT is focusing its power grid improvements.