There is potential for 13-17 gigawatts<\/a> (GW) of onshore wind energy across the country. And while most of Thailand\u2019s wind power comes from ground-mounted projects, there is potential for another 18-36GW per year offshore in the Andaman Sea. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Solar has made huge strides in Thailand in recent years, with a current estimated capacity of 3GW<\/a> and plans to reach 39GW<\/a> by 2040. Despite this, Thailand is relying on an energy future ruled by liquified natural gas (LNG), including the building of new infrastructure in Rayong and the Gulf of Thailand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The current draft of Thailand\u2019s 2025-2037 Power Development Plan (PDP) aims<\/a> to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 and net-zero emissions by 2065. The plan includes installing an additional 7GW of wind power capacity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While the draft (due to be passed by the end of 2025) is aggressively pursuing renewable energy in solar, wind and biomass, its critics claim the government\u2019s energy demand projections are too high<\/a>: it predicts that the current supply must more than double by 2037. Other criticisms are that the current plan is over-reliant on more traditional energy projects<\/a>, such as LNG, and that it is holding back the development of renewables. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Traditionally, Thailand\u2019s supply chain for building wind power plants has been provided by foreign interests. As the kingdom ramps up its renewables efforts for net-zero targets, however, a concerted push has been made to produce and develop wind power components domestically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thailand\u2019s leading wind energy developer, Wind Energy Holding, currently operates eight wind power plants. In June, the company announced<\/a> it was preparing 2GW of projects in line with the current PDP. Yeong Guan Energy Technology, a Chinese company, plans to begin<\/a> wind power component production trials in Thailand in 2025. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Thai companies are also investing in wind power abroad. Late last year, BCPG Public Company Limited, a renewable-energy subsidiary of the partially state-owned conglomerate Bangchak Corporation, announced<\/a> it was acquiring a firm that operates two wind power plants in Vietnam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Thailand also funds controversial hydropower dams on the Mekong mainstream and its tributaries, in neighbouring Laos and Cambodia. These projects have been linked to declining fisheries and unseasonable flooding and droughts, affecting biodiversity and riverine livelihoods. As such, more emphasis is being placed by environmental groups<\/a> on the use of non-hydro renewables, such as wind and solar. <\/p>\n\n\n\n At present, the push for renewable energy is reviving Thailand\u2019s wind power prospects, as is the current Feed-in-Tariff system<\/a>, in which producers are offered fixed prices to provide power to the grid. But the PDP 2025-2037 will be essential in deciding how diversified the kingdom\u2019s renewable future will be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The energy plan of Laos has centred around being the \u201cBattery of Asia<\/a>\u201d, using the nation\u2019s natural resources to create hydropower that it sells to its Southeast Asian neighbours and China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n However, the use of the Mekong\u2019s resources has been a heavy source of contention<\/a> in the Greater Mekong region, so Laos has taken steps<\/a> to include more solar and wind projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The most widely publicised of its upcoming wind projects is the Power China-produced Thai collaboration that was completed this year, the Monsoon Wind Power project (MWP<\/a>). It is the first large-scale ground-mounted wind farm<\/a> in landlocked Laos and has been touted as the largest<\/a> in Southeast Asia. Continuing the Battery of Asia model with wind power, the 250MW onshore Truong Son wind project<\/a> is expected to supply energy to neighbouring Vietnam after its planned completion date later in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Both Thailand and China have played crucial roles in the energy infrastructure of Laos, in terms of development and power purchase agreements. The MWP project was bankrolled<\/a> by the Thai company Impact Electrons Siam, and is being rolled out as a prototype<\/a> that could potentially be used in Laos as a viable form of export energy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Around 80%<\/a> of the electricity produced by Laos is exported to other countries. The MWP project features<\/a> a 500 kilovolt transmission line to neighbouring Vietnam, 22 kilometres of which will be in Laos and 43 kilometres in Vietnam, which has signed a 25-year power purchase agreement for the project. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Straddling the provinces of Sekong and Attapeu, the MWP project contains 133 wind turbines. According to a quarterly environmental and social monitoring report, it has affected 934 households<\/a> across 26 villages, with agricultural land most affected. The report identified 210 hectares of agricultural land as temporarily or permanently changed, along with impacts on 112 hectares of forest. Projections from the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank also noted local anecdotal evidence<\/a> of biodiversity loss in the project development area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Though the project was only completed in April, Laos is already moving toward a wind farm that is twice as big: the AMI Savannakhet<\/a>, a 1,200MW wind farm in Savannakhet province, occupying nearly 2,700 hectares. <\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2023, it was estimated that non-hydro renewables made up less than 0.5%<\/a> of energy generation in Laos. But analysis of its 2020-2030 National Power Development Plan indicates that \u2013 while still relying heavily on hydropower \u2013 non-hydro renewables will eventually make up 5%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Cambodia has suffered from large-scale power shortages and blackouts. These stem from overconsumption issues<\/a> and, less recently, drought-based<\/a> hydropower lapses. According to a 2023 World Bank survey<\/a>, as many as 43% of firms experienced electricity outages in Cambodia, as the country contends with meeting its short-term power needs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The kingdom does not yet have any major wind farms, but in May 2025, authorities approved<\/a> six wind power projects in Mondulkiri province that are expected to generate 900MW<\/a>. Each developer has a 150MW allocation but there are few public details about construction timelines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n HK Oasis Power\u2019s 150MW<\/a> wind power station is currently the first of the six planned and is expected to begin operating in 2026. These wind projects should become a source of power during the country\u2019s dry season<\/a>, which usually runs from November to April. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Another upcoming Mondulkiri wind farm is the 100MW Singaporean Blue Circle<\/a> project. It will be built in conjunction with Cambodia\u2019s Royal Group, which is also responsible for the controversial, 400MW Lower Sesan 2 hydropower plant<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n These projects are a boon for Cambodia\u2019s non-hydro renewable goals but the wind farms raise questions about impacts for wildlife habitats and local ways of life. Mondulkiri\u2019s Indigenous Bunong residents have claimed some of the construction works could impact their lives and livelihoods. For example, one of the companies with project approval, SchneiTec Co, has been constructing a 299-kilometre<\/a> power transmission line through Cambodia\u2019s Prey Lang wildlife sanctuary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Previous wind power projects in Cambodia hit permanent snags, such as a Blue Circle project in Kampot, which was set to begin construction on an 80MW wind farm in 2021. It was cancelled after failing<\/a> to agree a per-kilowatt-hour tariff rate with the state-run energy supplier, Electricite du Cambodge. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Authorities have stated that wind power will be integrated into the national grid by 2026. But despite these coming projects, Cambodia\u2019s Power Development Plan up to 2040 will lead to only a marginal increase<\/a> in wind power when compared to other sources, like solar. This is because Cambodia\u2019s wind power potential is comparatively low for mainland Southeast Asia. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite issuing a 10-year moratorium<\/a> on dam building on the Mekong mainstream in 2020, a majority of the renewable energy in Cambodia still comes from hydropower. The rest \u2013 just 10.5%<\/a> \u2013 came from solar sources as of 2022, according to the International Energy Agency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Wind power is the largest source of non-hydro renewable energy in Vietnam, 80%<\/a> of which was provided by 84 wind farms<\/a> as of 2023. The country’s status as a regional leader in wind power has been largely attributed to a beneficial feed-in tariff system<\/a>: the government pays guaranteed, above-average prices for renewable energy. The tariff, along with Vietnam’s government policy<\/a> and strong potential for both on- and offshore wind energy generation, have attracted investors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With an installed capacity of nearly 5GW<\/a> as of 2024, Vietnam has made key changes to its Power Development Plan (PDP8), with a revised draft published in April outlining the country’s energy outlook to 2035. The original PDP8 of May 2023 had an ambitious outlook for onshore wind, including a goal of installing more than 21GW of onshore wind capacity by 2030. This has since been raised<\/a> to 38GW. This is despite the revised PDP8<\/a> also outlining a large increase in expected solar energy, increasing the previous target by nearly six times to over 73GW.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But while Vietnam was an early and enthusiastic adopter of onshore wind power in mainland Southeast Asia, the country has been slow to adopt offshore wind. The original PDP8 planned for 6GW of offshore wind by 2030; this has been revised<\/a> to 6-17GW by 2035.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Vietnam has signed several agreements for offshore wind projects, including a joint development<\/a> between the state-owned PetroVietnam and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, a Danish renewable energy developer. The USD 10.5 billion<\/a> investment will supply 3.5GW of wind power. Another is the 1.4GW<\/a> Phu Cuong Soc Trang offshore wind farm, developed by the Irish company Mainstream Renewable Power.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In July, authorities said construction on the first project is \u201clikely<\/a>\u201d to begin by the end of this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Recent studies show<\/a> Vietnam has the potential to generate just over one terawatt of wind energy in its exclusive economic zone, nearly doubling<\/a> previous World Bank estimates.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Nonetheless, Vietnam has struggled<\/a> to generate investments for its renewable projects due to fears that its favourable energy tariffs will end. These policies have created a boom in Vietnam’s renewables sector but they have also created losses for the state-owned Vietnam Electricity (EVN), leading authorities to attempt to reduce them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The revised PDP8 includes far-off goals for offshore wind projects. This is because, at current estimates, development elements such as permit issuance and construction planning is taking up to a decade<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the country rapidly multiplies its wind power projects, concerns have been raised regarding the local socioeconomic costs of this. Vietnam’s many nearshore wind farms have faced criticism<\/a> from fishers, whose incomes have been impacted by government-imposed fishing bans for wind farm perimetre zones. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Both onshore and offshore wind farms also create risks to biodiversity. They could present problems for migratory birds<\/a>, including endangered species from Siberia that migrate to Vietnam for winter, such as the Nordmann\u2019s Greenshank and Spoonbilled Sandpiper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Myanmar, still embroiled in civil conflict at the time of writing, has had a number of wind power projects fall through. These include the high-profile, Chinese-built Chaung Tha project<\/a>, which fell apart long before Myanmar’s military junta took control via the 2021 coup. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The current administration is working with Russia to cultivate wind power. The Russian state-owned firm Rosatom, which also has nuclear energy ambitions<\/a> in Myanmar, began working with a Myanmar developer on plans to build a 200MW wind farm<\/a> near Mount Popa in 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Despite the civil war in Myanmar and Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, the collaboration has seen movement in the past two years. Myanmar claims it is fast-tracking Mount Popa. The energy ministry has also signed a memorandum of understanding for eight wind-power projects<\/a> across the country. Rosatom is behind three of them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2023, Myanmar agreed to work with China on three wind power projects<\/a> in Ann, Gwa and Thandwe, all in Rakhine state, for projects ranging from 100-150MW. However, reports in 2024 said the Ann and Thandwe projects had been taken over<\/a> by the Rakhine people\u2019s Arakan army.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Beyond its domestic wind power ambitions, Myanmar plays a key role in the development of regional wind power. It is a site for the illicit mining of heavy rare earth elements (HREEs). These are used to produce powerful permanent magnets in wind turbines that increase power generation and improve heat resistance, lowering the maintenance demands of larger \u2013 especially offshore \u2013 turbines.<\/p>\n\n\n\nLaos<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"line](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Monsoon-Wind-Power-Project-groundbreaking-ceremony_Alamy_2PR5CXG-scaled.jpg\")
<\/div>Cambodia<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Vietnam<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
![\"low](\"https:\/\/dialogue.earth\/content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Bac-Lieu-Vietnam-wind-turbines_Alamy_T1CPG0.jpg\")
<\/div>Myanmar<\/h2>\n\n\n\n