B.Grimm Power to splash B40bn on 5-year plan
Firm aims to ramp up capacity to 2,518MW
SET-listed B.Grimm Power Plc, the power generation arm of B.Grimm Group, has allocated 40 billion baht for a five-year plan for the expansion of its power-generating capacity.
President Preeyanart Soontornwata said the company aims to increase its power-generating capacity from 52 power plants to 2,518 megawatts during 2018-22, up from 1,779MW.
The company plans to spend 15 billion baht on ongoing development projects, including three units of small power producer (SPP) plants with a total capacity of 399MW.
The first plant, Amata B.Grimm Power Rayong 3 with an installed capacity of 133MW, began operations last Thursday. Up to 90MW of the total capacity will be sold to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
The company is also focusing on the development of seven solar projects with a combined capacity of 31MW, plus another hydropower project in Laos with installed capacity of 15MW.
B.Grimm also got an additional US$235-million (7.4-billion-baht) loan from the Asian Development Bank to fund the development projects, Ms Preeyanart said.
The company reported a net profit of 3.6 billion baht for fiscal 2017, an increase of 55%, on revenue of 23.7 billion, up 14% from last year.
Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation totalled 8.72 billion baht, up 16%.
Ms Preeyanart attributed the strong performance to increased revenue from new power plant operations such as Amata B. Grimm Power 5 in Amata Nakorn Industrial Estate and B.Grimm Power 1 at Hemraj Industrial Estate. The company is looking to expand in Asean markets, she said.
“Our performance last year exceeded our expectations, thanks to our improvement in power generation and share reduction of interest payments, helping us to make 6 billion baht in loan payments,” Ms Preeyanart said.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/news/1422482/b-grimm-to-splash-b40bn-on-5-year-plan
