Thailand's BCG model perfect for green development: Huawei CEO

Bangkokbiznews and Nation TV held a seminar “Go Green 2022” at The Athenee Hotel, a Luxury Collection Hotel, in Bangkok on Thursday.

In his opening speech, Deputy Prime Minister and Energy Minister Supattanapong Punmeechaow said that going green is not an option but necessary for survival and an opportunity.

He said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha had declared at the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference of the Parties held in November 2021 in Glasgow, Scotland that Thailand aims to reach carbon neutrality in 2050, and net-zero greenhouse gas emissions before 2065.

Abel Deng, the CEO of Huawei Technologies (Thailand), gave a special talk on “Green for Future”, stating that Thailand’s Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) model is perfect for green development.

According to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), green development presents a new approach to economic growth, putting well-being at the centre of development while ensuring that natural assets continue to provide the resources and environmental services to support sustainable development.

Deng explained that digitalisation stands for development while low-carbonisation stands for green, and they were the hottest topics in the world because they are the main approach for green development and the BCG business model.

In the past two years, he said more than 66 countries and regions have set up national carbon neutrality goals while more than 170 countries have announced national digital strategies including Thailand.

Deng said the Covid-19 situation has had a massive and disruptive impact on our lives, but it has also facilitated and accelerated digitalisation worldwide, which make it the main driving force of economic resilience and GDP growth.

According to the International Telecommunication Union, the digital economy growth rate is 2.5 times higher than the average GDP growth rate, which means GDP growth is driven by digital technologies.

As an example, he cited that 10 per cent of mobile broadband penetration will bring 1.5 to 2.8 per cent of GDP growth and 10 per cent of fixed broadband penetration will bring 0.8 to 2.3 per cent of GDP growth. He added that a 7 per cent increase in cloud adoption will bring 1.1 per cent GDP growth.

Digital technologies mainly comprise 5G, cloud, and AI technologies. He praised Thailand as the 5G leader of Asean and in the world.

The World Bank said in February that digital technologies could generate up to US$3.4 billion for Thailand.

Deng said digital technologies also play an important role in reducing carbon emissions. An average of 2 per cent carbon emissions are caused by ICT, but the application of ICT technology enables carbon reduction up to 10 times, or 20 per cent.

By 2030, ICT will enable industrial reduction of 12.1 billion tonnes of carbon (from 63.5 billion to 51.4 billion tonnes).

Moreover, digital technologies are also evolving to reduce carbon emission. He said that Huawei is committed to becoming 2.7 times more energy efficient with its new technologies.

Regarding Thailand's carbon neutrality goal, Deng said the power industry, transportation, and industrial sector were major CO2 emitters.

To reach carbon neutrality in 2050, Thailand will be reducing CO2 emissions in these sectors so the key task will be energy transformation from green sources.

He said in 2050 the proportion of global renewable energy power generation will be 50 per cent, the proportion of electric vehicles sold globally will be 90 per cent, and the global percentage of electricity in total power consumption will be 60 per cent.

Deng said Huawei has set up a digital power company as digital power technology has been popular for the past 10 years. He explained that digital power technology combined electric power technology with digital technology.

As an example, he said that Huawei has the fourth generation of photovoltaics (PV) solution, which has levelised cost of energy (LCOE) of THB1.3 per kilowatt hour.

Huawei also has a smart string energy storage system (ESS), which is a battery to provide solar energy use at night.

It is also providing all scenarios and modular green solutions to reduce the power consumption of data centres, 5G stations, and equivalent.

Lastly, Huawei is trying to introduce an economical EV for US$4,000, with 1,000km of driving. Its battery has super-fast charging capacity, in just 35 minutes.

For the digital economy and green economy, it is all driven mainly by two technologies -- information technology and energy technology.

He said we are part of the fifth industrial revolution with digitalisation and low-carbonisation. They are major forces and will go hand in hand to bring us to the low carbon intelligent world.

Deng shared the report by Huawei “Exploring the Intelligent World 2030”. It will demonstrate what 2030 will look like with digitalisation and low-carbonisation. The report is available at the website https://www.huawei.com/en/giv

There was also a panel discussion on “Green Strategy”. Kiatchai Maitriwong, executive director of Thailand Greenhouse Gas Management Organisation, Thanyaporn Krichtitayawuth, executive director of Global Compact Network Thailand, and Aphinya Siranart, head of Exploration at UNDP Accelerator Labs, took part in the discussions.

The panel discussed Thailand’s policies to support CO2 emission reduction and how the business sector is involved with this issue.

The second special talk was “Driving Green Business”. Prasit Boondoungprasert, the CEO of Charoen Pokphand Foods Plc, Yossapong Laoonual, the head of Mobility and Vehicle Technology Research Centre (MOVE) of the King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi and honorary chairman of Electric Vehicle Association of Thailand, Prakob Phiencharoen, the head of Corporate and Investment Banking Group of Bank of Ayudhya, and Pakkapol Leophairatana, executive vice president, Accounting and Finance at TPI Polene Power Pcl took part.

The talk discussed on how each company will operate its business while preserving the environment.