SET-listed SPCG Plc is ratcheting up its international operations and will almost double its solar power generating capacity to 500 megawatts in three years.
Solar farms and rooftop projects will be expanded in Japan, Myanmar and the Philippines as well as at home, said Wandee Khunchornyakong, chairwoman and chief executive of Thailand’s biggest solar power operator in terms of capacity.
The company’s projects in Thailand now generate a combined 260MW, she said.
It will spend 1 billion baht to increase that capacity by another 60MW this year.
Mrs Wandee said SPCG would partner with Japan’s leading solar module producer, Kyocera Corporation, to develop a solar farm in Japan with capacity of 30MW.
An official announcement will be made shortly, she said.
Mrs Wandee said her company would receive a bonus on solar farm investment through Japan’s joint carbon mechanism scheme, in which that country’s government subsidises half the cost of a project.
SPCG is confident it can pass the scheme’s criteria, as it has long had a strategic partnership with Kyocera in terms of technology transfers, she said.
In Myanmar, SPCG recently signed a power-purchase agreement with the state utility to develop the first phase of a solar farm there with power generating capacity of 30MW.
The company is in talks about developing the second phase, Mrs Wandee said.
In the Philippines, SPCG is still awaiting investment conditions from that country’s state utility regarding the second phase of a national solar farm project expected to run at a capacity of 2,000MW.
She said her company had not yet received a licence stipulating the specifications and generating capacity of the solar farm.
However, generating capacity is expected to be significant, as the Philippines is facing a power shortage, with demand rising in line with the rapidly growing economy.
“The population is 103 million, but power supply capacity is only 15,000MW, far below Thailand’s capacity of 37,000MW,” Mrs Wandee said.
SPCG expects revenue growth of 10% to 5.5 billion baht this year thanks to its fast-growing solar rooftop programme.
Sales of rooftop modules are expected to double to 100 million baht in 2016.
Last year, SPCG signed an agreement with Home Product Center Plc, a home decoration and building materials trader, to integrate distribution of its solar modules with the latter’s customer loan service.
Mrs Wandee said homeowners were enthusiastic about solar rooftops even though they did not yet have the right to sell electricity back to the utility.
SPCG shares closed yesterday on the SET at 20.30 baht, unchanged, in trade worth 23.4 million baht.
Source: http://www.renewablesbiz.com/article/16/01/spcg-signs-deals-three-countries
