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To avoid the potential adverse impacts of climate change from global warming, it is suggested that the target of net zero emissions should be reached by this mid-century. Thailand is aiming to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Since electricity generation is one of the largest producers of carbon dioxide emission, the associated emissions must be greatly reduced to achieve the targets mentioned above. Thus, new generation expansion plans must be well developed. This paper discusses the development of generation expansion plans considering Thailand's latest policies along with enhancement of the existing multi-period linear programming model, allowing new electricity generation technologies having low emissions, e.g., solar PV with battery and hydrogen blending in natural gas, to be integrated into generation expansion planning. Then, four generation expansion plans with different levels of hydrogen blending in natural gas are proposed and discussed. It is found that Thailand can achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 by promoting more use of renewable energy altogether with trade-off between land for solar PV installation and amount of hydrogen blended in natural gas. The lesson learned from this study provides crucial information about possible pathways to achieve carbon neutrality in the electricity sector for policy makers in other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-carbon future has in recent years recurred as a strategic element in energy and climate planning. The transition towards a low-carbon society requires fundamental changes in both the energy systems and in the ways that society adapts to large transformations. These changes cannot happen by themselves, but require purposeful mechanisms and measures steered by government and other actors in society. Actions are required at all levels of government from international to local. Thailand needs to transform its energy system to effectively address concerns about a range of environmental problems. This paper provides an analysis of Thailand's carbon governance structure as applied to the energy systems. The study applies a multi-level governance framework to understand the policy environment. It presents the elements of existing energy and climate governance and an examination of modeling exercises of the existing literature. It is concluded that multi-level governance enables integration of divergent perspectives and helps steer the course of responsible development. The paper also provides some recommendations on issues related to the governance challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]