Thai officials say half of licensed ethanol projects will not be built due to oil prices, overcapacity

In Thailand, the energy ministry predicted that fewer than half of the recently issued 47 licenses for ethanol production will translate into operating plants, due to low oil prices. A ministry official told the Bangkok Post that ethanol production capacity is now 152 Mgy, output is currently at a 115 Mgy rate, but demand has fallen to an 89 Mgy rate.

Only 11 licensees are now producing ethanol, while the Thai Oil/Mitr Phol/Padaeng joint venture, a KSL plant in Ratchaburi, and a ES Power/Taiping joint venture will add an additional 67 Mgy in capacity this year. The Thai government said that although demand is expected to grow 25 percent by the end of this year,m the country was looking at overcapacity of 96 Mgy by year end.

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