20 May 2026, Bangkok – GIZ Thailand, under the Thai-German Cooperation on Energy, Mobility and Climate (TGC EMC) project in cooperation with the Energy Policy and Planning Office (EPPO) as a key project partner and focal point for energy storage system topics, successfully organised the ‘First Step – Thailand Battery Tracking System Workshop’ at the Novotel Bangkok on Siam Square. The workshop provided an opportunity for stakeholders to exchange perspectives on the fundamental framework of a battery tracking system and the concept of a Battery Passport, both of which constitute a key milestone in advancing sustainable battery management in Thailand. These efforts are intended to support the anticipated growth in battery demand across the energy and transport sectors in the years ahead.
Setting a vision for a net-zero emissions future
The workshop commenced with opening remarks from Sarat Prakobchart, Deputy Director General of the EPPO, alongside Dominika Kalinowska, Transport Project Director at GIZ Thailand. Both speakers emphasised the critical role of sustainable battery management in supporting Thailand to achieve its long-term environmental targets, specifically its commitment to reaching net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050.
Opening remarks delivered by Sarat Prakobchart, Deputy Director General of the EPPO (left), and Dr Dominika Kalinowska, Director of Transport Projects, GIZ Thailand (right), reaffirming commitment to the critical role of sustainable battery management in helping Thailand achieve its long-term environmental targets
Deconstructing technical and infrastructure requirements
The keynote sessions featured extensive contributions from technical and industrial experts aiming to address current challenges, such as fragmented data across supply chains, while looking at international and local initiatives.
- Dr Nattanai Kunanusont, Researcher from the Energy Storage Technology Research Team at the National Energy Technology Center (ENTEC), provided vital technical clarification of concepts, definitions and international state-of-the-art practice terminologies. His presentation established a standardised language for discussing battery life cycles and tracking systems.
- Tassanai Sawaengsup, CEO of Nextere Co., Ltd., and Chantakorn David Gridwitchayayarkarn, Founder & Group CEO of GridWhiz (Singapore & Thailand), jointly presented a practical ‘how-to’ blueprint for building the necessary national infrastructure. Their sessions directly addressed reporting duties, data access rights and the complex challenges surrounding system interoperability.
- Krisda Utamote, Director of Corporate Communications at BMW Group Thailand, provided a private-sector viewpoint, outlining the strategic rationale for Thailand’s immediate adoption of robust battery tracking frameworks to remain aligned with global market expectations.
(Left) Dr Nattanai Kunanusont, ENTEC and (right) Tassanai Sawaengsup, Nextere Co., Ltd.
Defining the tracking system: Battery Passport
The central focus of the discussions heavily revolved around defining the criteria for an EV battery tracking system, namely, the Battery Passport. Using the EU framework as an example and framework, the tracking solution supports the circularity of EV batteries into second-life applications, such as transforming degraded EV batteries into secondary energy storage systems, and examines the establishment of standard protocols to guarantee safe, environmentally responsible End-of-Life (EoL) recycling and disposal, minimising environmental impact.
The technical and regulatory insights culminated in a panel discussion moderated by Dr Pimpa Limthongkul, Director of the Energy Innovation Research Group at ENTEC. The panel featured keynote speakers alongside Kornwika Chaiprateep, Deputy Managing Director, SK tes Thailand and Charubutr Asavaroengchai, Manager, Thonburi Automotive Assembly Co., Ltd, who deliberated on how to realistically scale this tracking system.
(From left) Dr Pimpa Limthongkul, Charubutr Asavaroengchai, Kornwika Chaiprateep, Chantakorn David Gridwitchayayarkarn and Tassanai Sawaengsup discuss Battery Passport requirements and ecosystems for Thailand
An afternoon interactive discussion led by Pimpussorn Anutchatchawan, Advisor, GIZ Thailand with support from King Mongkut’s University of Technology Thonburi (KMUTT), and a battery consortium under TGC EMC, was dedicated to ‘Data Level and Data Governance’. Participants actively brainstormed structures for data access rights and tracking responsibilities, seeking solutions to integrate fragmented data systems into a unified national framework.
By aligning international cases with local industry capabilities, this collaborative effort by TGC EMC marks a decisive first step towards a circular, traceable and sustainable battery value chain in Thailand.
Interactive session facilitated by GIZ Thailand and KMUTT, with participants actively sharing views on Battery Passport challenges and priorities
In closing, Dr Dominika Kalinowska emphasised that reliable data and strong collaboration to support battery tracking are key to advancing Thailand’s sustainable battery value chain operationalising circular economy solutions essential to Thailand’s net-zero energy and mobility transition. She also noted that insights and findings from the workshop will contribute to a white paper to be released by the end of 2026, together with relevant outputs from other EV battery value chain activities under the TGC EMC Sustainable Battery Management workstream, where applicable.
