On 22 May 2025, the Thai-German Cooperation on Energy, Mobility and Climate (TGC EMC) project, in cooperation with the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE), organised the first Steering Committee Meeting of 2025, with governmental partners. Chaired by Pavich Kesavawong, Deputy Director General of the DCCE, this meeting brought together the project’s Steering Committee members from eight governmental agencies to discuss progress and challenges in project implementation and review the work plans for 2025 to support Thailand’s energy transition and carbon neutrality.

Pavich Kesavawong, Deputy Director General of the DCCE, chaired the meeting.

The Steering Committee members discussed the project’s progress and results from activities conducted in 2024 and early 2025. Implementation highlights included:

• Solar PV Rooftop Installation Guidebook for Bangkok – TGC EMC is collaborating with the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) to create a comprehensive solar PV rooftop installation guidebook for the residential and the commercial/industrial sectors to support solar power integration in Bangkok by providing knowledge and information on key topics – including equipment selection, installation guidelines, technical processes and cost-effectiveness, etc. This guidebook is expected to be launched in September 2025.
• 10 locations were selected as ‘City Labs’ to demonstrate pilot solutions, including in Nakhon Sawan, Saraburi, Chonburi, Krabi, Phuket, Nakhon Ratchasima, Bangkok and Kanchanaburi. Solutions to be implemented varied following the context of each selected location, including sustainable biomass use from rice and sugarcane residues for clean energy generation (Nakhon Sawan); electric feeder system electrification (Bangkok); and hybrid solar pumping with digital monitoring (Chonburi), among others.
• ThaiCI updates on mitigation and adaptation project calls – based on the calls for proposals in two key mitigation areas: hotels and accommodation, and iron and steel. In 2023, the ThaiCI received 42 and 17 proposals respectively. Of these, 29 and 15 passed the initial screening process, and were presented to the Sub-Committee for Project Screening in Climate Change. Based on the total project volume from the hotels and the iron and steel sectors, the expected annual mitigation amounted to 2,135.92 tCO₂e and 2,577.32 tCO₂e. Regarding adaptation projects, the ThaiCI received 228 submissions, with 74 identified as relevant to the fund’s adaptation priorities. An upcoming call for GHG emissions reduction in food & beverage SMEs is also set to be launched later this year.

Challenges and opportunities in project implementation, strategic to the achievements of results and requiring cross-sectoral collaboration, were also presented to consult key governmental partners for advice and high-level support.

Insa Illgen, TGC EMC Project Director from GIZ

In conclusion, the meeting approved the TGC EMC workplans for 2025, with insightful feedback on how the project could further align its work with relevant policies, regulations and developments in Thailand. The Steering Committee Meeting 2/2025 is tentatively scheduled for December to review progress on implementation.

The TGC EMC Steering Committee members include: the Department of Climate Change and Environment (DCCE) and Office of Natural Resources and Environmental Policy and Planning (ONEP), Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment; Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) and Department of Alternative Energy Development and Efficiency (DEDE), Ministry of Energy; Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP), Ministry of Transport; Office of Agricultural Economics (OAE), Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives; Thai International Cooperation Agency (TICA), Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) and GIZ. Representatives from the Federal Republic of Germany Embassy to Thailand were also present as observers.

Funded by the International Climate Initiative (IKI) under Germany’s Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), the TGC EMC project supports Thailand’s commitment to carbon neutrality by 2050 via its five components – Renewable Energy, Transport, Decarbonisation in Industry, Biomass, and Climate Finance (ThaiCI). TGC EMC facilitates technology transfer, policy development, and business model innovation through a sector-coupling approach.