Gulf Energy Development Plc and energy conglomerate Bangchak Corporation are determined to promote clean energy and energy technology innovations, aiming to pave the way for sustainable growth.
Clean energy is a sustainability trend in the energy sector after efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions have become a global issue, said Sarath Ratanavadi, chief executive of Gulf.
Gulf initiated coal-fired power plant projects two decades ago, but "we eventually decided to move away from coal and will never look back," he said.
The company shifted to natural gas which is considered cleaner than fossil fuel.
Currently, Gulf has gas-fired power plants, both in operation and under construction, with a combined electricity generation capacity of 10 gigawatts.
It also invested in onshore solar farms and offshore wind farms as it follows the renewable energy trend.
He was speaking during a panel discussion on sustainable growth in the business sector, held as part of the Thailand Focus 2022 seminar, co-organised by the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
Mr Sarath said soaring gas prices, driven by the conflict in eastern Europe, is the latest factor prompting Gulf to focus more on renewable energy.
"It is hard to predict when the energy price crisis will end, leaving many power firms with concerns over gas price fluctuations," he said.
Chaiwat Kovavisarach, president and group chief executive of Bangchak, said the company plans to achieve carbon neutrality and net-zero goals within 2030 and 2050, respectively, which is faster than the time frame set by the government: 2050 for carbon neutrality and 2065 for the net-zero goal.
He said Bangchak is also interested in electric vehicle-related businesses. It set up an in-house startup to run a battery swapping business for electric motorcycles.
Riders on low battery level can search for battery swapping stations on their mobile phone and simply replace their batteries with fully charged ones. Mr Chaiwat expects to have up to 2,000 motorcycles use the service.
