The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $350mn loan to Thailand's Gulf Renewable Energy (GRE) to expand renewable energy generation and decarbonise Thailand's power sector.
The funding will be used for the construction of three projects. Two of these are solar and battery energy storage systems (Bess) with a total capacity of 126MW and 151MWh of energy storage, while the third is a 68MW solar power plant.
The projects align with Thailand's 5GW renewable energy feed-in tariff programme, "marking southeast Asia's first large-scale solar and Bess procurement", the ADB said. "Battery-integrated solar is a cornerstone of Thailand's affordable and reliable clean energy future," ADB's country director for Thailand Aaron Batten said.
GRE is a subsidiary of Thai private power producer Gulf Development Public, which has a total generation capacity of 16,504MW operating as of December 2025.
Under the latest funding agreement, ADB will provide $75mn from its ordinary capital resources, a $50mn "B-loan" from Singapore's DBS Bank, $150mn in parallel loans from German development finance institution DEG, Development Finance Institute Canada (DFIC) and Export Finance Australia; as well as $75mn from the ADB-administered Leading Asia's Private infrastructure fund.
The projects are also expected to reduce an average of 191,550 t/yr of CO2, according to the ADB. Thailand has pledged to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.
Fossil fuels accounted for more than 80pc of Thailand's electricity generation in 2024. Installed solar capacity was just 3.4GW, but the country has a high solar resource potential of about 300GW, according to think-tank Ember.
The country estimates that it requires $6.11bn by 2035 to advance the energy transition through the green energy, green transportation and green industries. For other sectors, including industrial processes and product use, agriculture and waste, Thailand estimates that it requires an additional $940mn. This brings total estimated investment required to $7.05bn by 2035.
