Absolute Clean Energy projects to supply Thailand’s electricity grid
SET-listed Absolute Clean Energy (ACE), a local biomass power developer and operator, expects to gain more revenue after its 18 ground-mounted solar power generation projects were selected to supply electricity to the state grid.
These projects are being developed by ACE’s 14 wholly-owned subsidiaries.
Up to 15 projects with combined electricity generation capacity of 92.7 megawatts were recently awarded power purchase agreements (PPAs) by the Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA), the state power distribution arm, said Tanavijit Ankapipatchai, director and chief financial officer of ACE.
The facilities are scheduled for commercial operations between 2024 and 2025.
ACE has yet to sign PPAs with the PEA for three other projects, with total capacity of 20MW. They are slated to start commercial operations in 2027.
Once all 18 projects are fully operational, they will generate revenue worth 665 million baht a year, said Mr Tanavijit.
The company did not disclose how much it spent for the solar power development, saying only part of the investment came from the issuance of debenture bonds worth 391.6 million baht.
The investment not only aims to increase revenue for ACE, but is also part of the company’s efforts to increase its renewable power generation capacity to 1 gigawatt by 2024, up from 652MW at present, said chief executive Tanachai Bunditvorapoom.
Earlier in May, ACE signed a PPA with the PEA to supply electricity from its waste-fired power plants in Chiang Wang municipality in Udon Thani province and Nakhon Ratchasima’s Chok Chai district.
Electricity generation capacity under the PPA is 7.75MW and 8MW, respectively.
Mr Tanachai said ACE plans to raise more funds valued at 20 billion baht in total to support its future business expansion, including a plan to acquire more power generation assets.
The company expects demand for renewable power to keep growing over the next 15-20 years as many countries are committed to achieving carbon neutrality goals, a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/general/2668551/ace-projects-to-supply-grid
