Ratchaburi commits B17.8bn to new capacity
Thailand’s largest private power producer, Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc (RATCH), is moving ahead with 17.8 billion baht in investments this year to expand power capacity.
Of the total, 16.5 billion baht will be used to build three cogeneration power plants under the small power producer (SPP) programme. The company this week won three licences from the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC).
Two licences are for a capacity of 110 megawatts (MW) each through Ratchaburi World Cogen Co in Ratchaburi, and one for 130 MW in the Navanakorn In dustrial Estate in Pathum Thani.
Construction of the three projects is scheduled to start soon, said managing director Noppol Milinthanggoon.
The remaining 1.31 billion baht from the investment budget will be spent to buy initial public offering shares in the Lao power producer Electricite du Laos-Generation Plc (EDL Gen).
EDL-Gen shares will begin trading on the new Laotian stock market when it opens on Tuesday.
Ratchaburi units RATCH-Lao Service Co Ltd and RH International (Singapore) Corp Pte were allotted a combined 81.112 million IPO shares for $43.4 million.
EDL-Gen is 75% owned by state- owned Electricite de Laos and has a policy of paying out at least 50% of its net profit in dividends.
EDL-Gen has assets in seven power plants in Laos with total capacity of 387 MW. It also has 13 small power plants with total capacity of 588.6 MW.
With limited growth at home, Ratchaburi, like other major Thai power producers, is looking for opportunities abroad to boost capacity, especially in Asia.
Ratchaburi has generating capacity of 4,300 megawatts, about 15% of Thailand’s total.
Source: http://www.bangkokpost.com/business/economics/215036/ratchaburi-commits-b17-8bn-to-new-capacity
