Thailand updates air emission standard for power plants 
Thai Ministry of Natural Reources and Environment announced two notifications (1) Notification of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment prescribing standards for controlling air emissions from power plants, B.E. 2566 (2023) and (2) Notification of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Designating power plants as sources of pollution that must be controlled to release polluted air into the atmosphere B.E. 2566 (2023) in the Royal Gazette on 28 August 2023. The notifications set out revised air emission standard for power plants. Different standard values for air pollutants including particulate matters, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide, are set depends on the types of fuel with the age of the power plant taken into consideration. The new standards will be effective 90 days after announcement in the Royal Gazette.
Definitions
Power Plant, means the Thermal power plant, according to the law on factories or power business establishments, that generate electricity from thermal energy according to the law on energy inParticulate Matterry operation.
Old Power Plant, includes the following:
- Power plants that have been licensed to operate or expand the factory or operate the machinery before January 31st 1996, this includes units in Bang Pakong Power Plant, Nam Phong Power Plant and Mae Moh Power Plant.
- Power plants that are permitted to operate the business of generating or changing power generation from January 31st 1996 to January 16th
- Power plants that have been permitted to operate, produce, or change their electricity generating capacity from January 17th 2010 to before the effective date of this notification.
New Power Plant, means a power plant that is permitted to operate, expand, change or replace the existing production unit.
Air emission standards for old power plants are as follows:
| Power Plant | Particulate Matter (mg / m3) |
Sulfur dioxide gas (ppm) |
Nitrogen oxide gas which is calculated in the form of nitrogen dioxide gas (ppm) |
| (1) Power plants that have been licensed to operate or expand the factory or operate the machinery before 31 January, 1996: |
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| (1.1) Bang Pakong Power Plant (Thermal Energy) Production Unit 3 and Production Unit 4 that use natural gas and oil as fuel. |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 320 | Not more than 200 |
| (1.2) Nam Phong Power Plant Set 1 and Set 2 use natural gas as fuel. |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 60 | Not more than 250 |
| (1.3) Mae Moh Power Plant, Production Unit 4 and Production Units 8 – 13 use lignite as fuel. |
Not more than 180 | Not more than 320 | Not more than 500 |
| (2) Power plants that were permitted to operate or change their electricity production capacity from 31 January 1996 to 16 January 2010. |
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| (2.1) Power plants that use coal as fuel: | |||
| with an electrical generating capacity of not more than 300 megawatts |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 640 | Not more than 350 |
| with an electrical generating capacity of more than 300 megawatts but no more than 500 megawatts |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 450 | Not more than 350 |
| with an electrical generating more than 500 megawatts |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 320 | Not more than 350 |
| (2.2) Power plants that use gasoline as fuel: |
|||
| with an electrical generating capacity of not more than 300 megawatts |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 640 | Not more than 180 |
| with an electrical generating capacity of more than 300 megawatts but no more than 500 megawatts |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 450 | Not more than 180 |
| with an electrical generating more than 500 megawatts |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 320 | Not more than 180 |
| (2.3) Power plants of all sizes that use natural gas as fuel. |
Not more than 60 | Not more than 20 | Not more than 120 |
| (2.4) Power plants of all sizes use biomass as fuel. |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 60 | Not more than 200 |
| (3) Power plants that are permitted to operate production businesses or change the power generating capacity from 14 January 2010 to before the effective date of this notification. |
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| (3.1) Power plants that use coal as fuel: | |||
| with an electrical generating capacity of not more than 50 megawatts |
Not more than 80 | Not more than 360 | Not more than 200 |
| with an electrical generating capacity of more than 50 megawatts |
Not more than 80 | Not more than 180 | Not more than 200 |
| (3.2) Power plants of all sizes that use gasoline as fuel |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 260 | Not more than 180 |
| (3.3) Power plants of all sizes that use natural gas as fuel |
Not more than 60 | Not more than 20 | Not more than 120 |
| (3.4) Power plants of all sizes that use biomass as fuel |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 60 | Not more than 200 |
| (3.5) Power plants of all sizes that use biogas as fuel. |
Not more than 120 | Not more than 60 | Not more than 200 |
Air emission standards for new power plants are as follows:
| Power Plant | Particulate Matter (mg / m3) |
Sulfur dioxide gas (ppm) |
Nitrogen oxide gas which is calculated in the form of nitrogen dioxide gas (ppm) |
Mercury (mg/m3) |
| (1) New power plants that use coal as fuel. |
||||
| (1.1) with an electrical generating capacity of not more than 100 megawatts |
Not more than 50 | Not more than 260 | Not more than 180 | Not more than 0.03 |
| (1.2) with an electrical generating capacity of more than 100 megawatts |
Not more than 30 | Not more than 20 | Not more than 120 | Not more than 0.03 |
| (2) Power plants of all sizes that use gasoline as fuel |
Not more than 30 | Not more than 50 | Not more than 130 | N/A |
| (3) Power plants of all sizes that use natural gas as fuel |
Not more than 20 | Not more than 15 | Not more than 80 | N/A |
| (4) Power plants of all sizes that use biomass as fuel |
Not more than 90 | Not more than 30 | Not more than 200 | N/A |
| (5) Power plants of all sizes that use biogas as fuel |
Not more than 30 | Not more than 30 | Not more than 200 | N/A |
Air emission standards for waste to energy power plants are as follows:
| Air Pollutants | Old Power Plant | New Power Plant |
| Particulate Matter (mg/m3) | Not more than 70 | Not more than 50 |
| Sulfur dioxide (ppm) |
Not more than 30 | Not more than 25 |
| Nitrogen oxide gas, which is calculated in the form of |
Not more than 180 | Not more than 150 |
| Hydrogen chloride gas (ppm) | Not more than 25 | Not more than 25 |
| Mercury (mg/m3) | Not more than 0.05 | Not more than 0.03 |
| Cadmium (mg/m3) | Not more than 0.05 | Not more than 0.05 |
| Lead (mg/m3) | Not more than 0.5 | Not more than 0.1 |
| Dioxin compounds (ng/m3 is calculated in terms of concentration units equivalent to toxicity to humans (PCDD/Fs as Toxic Equivalent: I-TEQ) |
Not more than 0.1 | Not more than 0.1 |
Download the original text of the Notifications at
- Notification of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment prescribing standards for controlling air emissions from power plants, B.E. 2566 (2023)
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/140D205S0000000003600.pdf - Notification of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment Designating power plants as sources of pollution that must be controlled to release polluted air into the atmosphere B.E. 2566 (2023)
https://ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/documents/140D205S0000000004300.pdf
