Our director Henning Glaser had the pleasure of virtually joining a meeting of the EABC Energy Working Group on August 14 as a guest speaker, briefing Working Group members on the latest developments in Thailand’s Direct Power Purchase Agreement (Direct PPA) policy and related measures affecting the country’s rapidly expanding data center sector.

The briefing was framed by two major developments unfolding in parallel: On the one hand, Thailand is broadening its Direct PPA framework beyond the original 2,000 MW data center pilot, opening the way for industrial users to procure renewable electricity through Third Party Access (TPA) to the transmission and distribution networks, while at the same time advancing a distinct set of measures for large-scale data centers, including a separate electricity tariff, financial security requirements for reserved grid capacity, and greater emphasis on power availability and infrastructure readiness.

Against this backdrop, Henning’s contribution addressed the commercial and regulatory questions that will shape implementation in practice, including TPA terms, wheeling and network charges, grid capacity and access, tariff treatment, security requirements, and the availability of reliable power at scale.

Our thanks to the EABC and outgoing Working Group Chair Marty Sinthavanarong for the invitation and the opportunity to contribute to the discussion. We also congratulate Chris Osborne on his election as new Chair of the Working Group.