Bualuang Securities says PDP2026 is clearer, supporting power plants and industrial estates

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Bualuang Securities says clarity on the Power Development Plan PDP2026 has increased after the draft was about 80 percent complete, and it is expected to be submitted to the Minister of Energy in late August before being announced for use in late September 2026. This helps reduce policy uncertainty for the power plant sector. The plan still targets renewable energy at around 60 percent and an average electricity tariff of around 4 baht and a fraction per unit. Meanwhile, electricity demand from data centers has already been included in the plan's scenarios, so there is no need to redo the plan. The Energy Policy and Planning Office has released three scenarios for data center electricity demand through 2050: Low at 6,799 megawatts, Mid at 8,811 megawatts, and High at 19,808 megawatts. Bualuang Securities views the Mid case as the base case because it is based on projects that have received Board of Investment privileges and a feasible pipeline, while the High case is an upside case from all connection requests to the Metropolitan Electricity Authority and the Provincial Electricity Authority. Direct foreign investment in the eastern region also remains strong. From 2023 through the first half of 2026, there were 4,566 investment promotion applications worth 2.6 trillion baht, accounting for about half of the country's total, led by digital, electronics and electrical appliances, and automotive, consistent with the electric vehicle, data center, and semiconductor themes. At the same time, infrastructure constraints are starting to become new investment opportunities, especially water. Demand in the Eastern Economic Corridor is expected to rise to 3.615 billion cubic meters in 2037, an increase of 22 percent from 2024, with industrial demand rising 58 percent. Bualuang Securities maintains an overweight stance on the power plant sector relative to the market, viewing GULF and GUNKUL as the clearest beneficiaries of PDP2026 progress, while WHA and AMATA continue to be supported by foreign direct investment in the eastern region, and WHAUP has additional upside from rising industrial water demand.

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Energy Transition & Power Demand▲ · 4 stocks
Artificial Intelligence▲ · 1 stocks

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