Thailand’s Banpu Power keen to add ‘cleaner’ capacity
SET-listed Banpu Power (BPP), a power generation arm of non-oil energy conglomerate Banpu Group, expects to add almost 900 megawatts in capacity to its electricity generation portfolio in the second half this year as it continues to adopt more “HELE” (high efficiency, low emission) technology.
BPP does not plan to add any new capacity through coal-fired power plants, with HELE driving its transition towards cleaner and smarter energy technology, said Kirana Limpaphayom, chief executive of BPP.
He said yesterday the company operates 30 power plants with a capacity of 3,224MW. Additional capacity will come from new development projects and asset acquisitions overseas, said Mr Kirana.
Six power plants in the US and Asia it earlier acquired should bump up capacity this year, he said.
One of them is Temple 1 gas-fired power plant, with a capacity of 384MW, in Texas. The facility was acquired from Generation Intermediate Holdings II, LLC.
Another plant is the coal-fired Shanxi Lu Guang in China, with a capacity of 396MW, while it acquired two solar farms — Kensennuma and Shirakawa in Japan — with a combined capacity of 30MW. BPP also acquired two wind farms in Vietnam, El Wind Mui Dinh and Vin Chau, with a capacity of 68MW.
Banpu Group wants to achieve a goal of 5.3GW capacity by 2025, with clean energy, including gas and renewable resources, set as the main fuels, said Mr Kirana. The firm plans to allocate US$300 million each year for new development projects and asset acquisitions to reach the target.
In the energy technology segment, its subsidiary Banpu Next Co continues to expand its rooftop and floating solar power, energy storage system (ESS), energy trade and smart city projects. Smart city projects promote wise use of energy.
Banpu Next plans to increase electricity generation capacity from rooftop and floating solar power businesses to 500MW, up from 250MW at present, by 2025. ESS capacity is projected to increase to 3 gigawatt-hours from 1GWh.
The firm’s energy trade is set to increase to 1,000GWh from 305GWh, while smart city projects are estimated to cover nine areas, up from five areas, he said.
Earlier Banpu Group announced a plan to increase its investment budget for a five-year plan (2021-2025) to 45 billion baht.
Source: https://www.bangkokpost.com/business/2168687/banpu-power-keen-to-add-cleaner-capacity
