B Grimm puts cash behind biggest solar plant in region
B GRIMM Power Plc plans to sign a joint venture agreement with Vietnamese conglomerate Xuan Cau Co Ltd for the development in that country of Southeast Asia’s biggest solar energy plant.
B Grimm Power president Preeyanart Soontornwata said the total investment for the plant – with a planned generating capacity of 420 megawatts – will be around US$430 million. The company would hold no more than 55 per cent of the joint venture, Preeyanart said.
To be built in Tay Ninh, in Vietnam’s southwest, the solar plant is scheduled to start operations in June next year and 100 per cent of the supply will be sold to Vietnam Electricity.
The company yesterday also announced a Bt600 million takeover deal that will give it full ownership of a company established as a joint venture that runs eight solar farms in Nakhon Pathom and Ayutthaya, with a combined capacity of 60 megawatts. Under the deal, B Grimm Power will acquire the 51 per cent stake held in B Grimm Yanhee Solar Power Co Ltd by Yanhee Solar Power. The deal will see B Grimm Power move from a 49 per cent stake in the joint venture to outright ownership.
B Grimm Yanhee Solar Power has a 25-year contract to supply electricity to the Provincial Electricity Authority. The company has been supplying electricity commercially since 2015 and achieved more than Bt500 million in annual sales, Bt400 million in annual earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, and more than Bt100 million in annual net profit.
“We aim to increase the proportion of revenue from our overseas power plants to 30 per cent by 2022, up from only 6 per cent today,” Preeyanart said.
“We also want to increase the proportion of revenue from alternative energy power plants to 30 per cent in the next five years, up from 12 per cent today.”
B Grimm Power and its subsidiaries posted Bt8.15 billion from sales and services in the first quarter of this year, up 6.6 per cent from the same quarter of last year. They achieved Bt512 million in net profit in the first quarter of this year, up 22 per cent compared with year-earlier quarter.
A key driver was the sales of electricity from its thermal power plant Amata B Grimm Power (Rayong) 3, which started commercial operations commercially on February 1. The facility has a capacity of 133 megawatts. Also boosting the bottom line was the increased demand for electricity of its industrial customers in Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate, Laem Chabang, and Hemaraj.
Source:http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/Corporate/30346619
