about 48 GW of installed wind power generating capacity (representing about 0.6 % of total world
electricity production, with capacity growing at around 20% pa), of which Thailand has less than
0.001%. However, for Thailand the economics of wind power installations may be unattractive and not
competitive with other alternative energy sources now, or in the foreseeable future.
This paper was originally prepared as the result of an internal Joint Graduate School of Energy and
Environment/ King Mongkut’s University of Technology, Thonburi, (JGSEE/KMUTT) study on the
potential for wind-power generated electricity for the Bangkhuntien Campus of KMUTT. It developed
into a more general review of the wind power potential for Thailand. The paper has now been
reviewed to determine whether the original findings should be modified in the light of developments in
wind technology knowledge in the intervening 4 years.
A wind map has been produced for Thailand [1], which combines and updates the wind speed data
previously available. Thailand experiences generally very low wind speeds with typically average
speeds of not above 3 m/s. A Department of Energy Development and Promotion, Thailand (DEDP)
report [2] produced around the same time as the wind map identifies in general terms the potential
wind resource available for power generation as follows (Table 1):