Ratch Group plans to start Ratchaburi province’s 1,400-megawatt Hin Kong power plant in 2021
27 July 2019
SET-listed Ratch Group Plc plans to start development of its 1,400-megawatt Hin Kong power plant sometime in 2021, commencing operation in 2024.
Ratch won a licence from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) for this new power plant with a development cost of US$700 million (21.7 billion baht).
The power plant is located in Ratchaburi, where Ratch holds the operating licence for this site for a capacity of 700MW, though this concession ends in 2020.
Under this licence, Ratch entered into a 25-year power purchase agreement with state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat), which owns a 45% stake in Ratch.
Two power generators for the new plant with 700MW capacity each are fired by natural gas, supplied under a gas sale agreement with PTT Plc, the national oil and gas conglomerate.
The first block of the power project is scheduled to start operating in 2024 and the second block will begin the following year.
Kijja Sripatthangkura, Ratch’s chief executive, said before construction starts, Ratch is open to strategic partners in a bid to form a joint venture participation for the two units.
“Ratch is in talks with partners, so we cannot reveal further details,” said Mr Kijja. “Ratch will remain as a major shareholder in the Hin Kong power plant.”
He said a partnership conclusion should be revealed by 2019.
“Ratch needs other potential partners for this project because of the massive investment cost,” said Mr Kijja.
The Hin Kong power plant is undergoing an engineering design and Ratch is conducting an environmental impact assessment report.
Ratch offers a power tariff of 0.0038 baht per kilowatt-hour (unit), less than its rivals. That will bring the power tariff of Hin Kong power plant to 1.993 baht per unit under the 25-year agreement.
He said when the existing power plant is terminated, Ratch plans to resell the 700MW power generator to other countries.
Ratch is Thailand’s largest private power producer and this plant in Ratchaburi, run by Tri Energy Co, won the country’s first auction for independent power producer in 1994.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/1719771/ratch-to-rev-up-hin-kong-plant-in-2021
