THAILAND has seen activity in multiple infrastructure sectors in Q2-2021 across renewable energy, transport, waste management and healthcare sectors. Large-scale infra investments have been announced in power and transport sectors by private sector in country.
Read more about key developments in Infrastructure and PPPs in Q2-2021 in Thailand in our latest insight.
June 2021
THAI DEVELOPER IN TALKS WITH INVESTORS FOR RENEWABLES FINANCING
The financing for a hybrid renewable project in Thailand is moving forward, with developer Blue Solar in talks with a multilateral bank and potential equity partners. The company is expecting to close the sale of an interest of up to 25% of the project is Q3 2021.
The project is set to cost USD 30Mn - USD 32Mn, the company signed a power purchase agreement with state-owned utility Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand in March. About 75% of the project cost will be financed through debt, A local bank has already committed to providing a loan facility covering approximately three-quarters of the total debt financing.
The project involves the development of a 42 MW solar power plant and a 12 MW energy storage plant and will be located in Thailand's central Supan Buri province. The Supan Burhi project is one of 17 projects that was awarded a 20-year power purchase agreement (PPA) for hybrid renewable and energy storage projects in 2017. It proposed a feed-in-tariff of USD 7.8 cents per Kw/h.
THAI DEVELOPER EGCO BUYS US POWER PLANT
Thailand’s Electricity Generating Public Co (EGCO) has closed the acquisition of a 28% stake in the 972 MW natural gas-fired Linden Cogen power plant in New Jersey. The transaction, EGCO's first investment in the US, is expected to open opportunities for the Thai company in the country's electricity generation market for investments in renewable energy as well as natural gas-fueled power assets.
Linden Cogen's units 1 to 5 sell power to the New York Independent System Operator’s Zone J market and provide steam to the Phillips 66 Bayway refinery under a contract that expires in 2032. Power plant 6 has a partial offtake agreement with Bayway refinery until 2032 and sells excess output into the PJM Interconnection.
THAI DEVELOPER TO EXIT 240 MW POWER PLANT
Thai company Eternal Energy has agreed to sell its 25% stake in a 240 MW gas-based power plant in the country to local firm Eastern Power Group's unit. The transaction, which will enable Eternal Energy to exit the project, is valued at THB 1.25Bn (USD 40Mn).
The Bangkok-based company will use the sale proceeds to finance its agriculture business including the research, development, cultivation and legitimate distribution of cannabis or hemp products in Thailand. The power plant - held under a company named SSUT - produces electricity and steam simultaneously through a cogeneration system that uses natural gas as its main fuel. The plant is located in Bangpoo Industrial Estate in Thailand's Samut Prakan province.
The plant has two facilities with a capacity of 120 MW each and produces a maximum steam capacity of 60 tons per hour. It sells 180 MW of power to state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, while the remaining power, as well as steam, is sold to companies in the Bangpoo Industrial Estate under long-term power purchase agreements.
THAILAND'S CKPOWER RAISES USD 128M DEBT FOR RENEWABLES EXPANSION
Thai developer CKPower has raised THB 4Bn (USD 128Mn) debt to repay existing commitments and expand its renewable energy business in Southeast Asia. The company will use part of the proceeds to acquire green energy assets and finance a feasibility study for the 1.5 GW Luang Prabang hydroelectric project in Laos.
The run-of-river project, which is set to supply power to Thailand and Vietnam, is being developed by CKPower, Bangkok-based construction firm Karnchang, oil and gas group Petrovietnam and Laos-headquartered investment company PT Sole Co. CKPower issued debentures in two tranches of THB 1.5Bn each and a third tranche of THB 1bn.The company also plans to issue an additional THB 2bn debentures to acquire a further 5% stake in the 1.3 GW Xayaburi hydroelectric plant in Laos.
Bangkok-listed CKPower owns a power portfolio of more than 2.2 GW across Thailand and Laos. Its power assets include two hydropower plants in Laos with a combined capacity of 1.9 GW, solar power plants in Thailand with a capacity of 29 MW, and the 238 MW Bang Pa-in gas-fired cogeneration power plant in Thailand's Ayutthaya province.
May 2021
THAILAND'S RATCH INVESTS USD 51M IN LOCAL HOSPITAL OPERATOR
Thai power developer Ratch Group has acquired a 10% stake in local private hospital operator and management company Principal Capital for THB 1.6Bn (USD 51Mn). Ratch bought more than 380.8 million shares in Principal Capital as part of the transaction.
The companies aim to expand Principal Capital's healthcare business in Thailand to include 20 hospitals by 2022 from 11 at present, which are located across 10 provinces. They will also multiply primary care networks, known as gold card clinics, from 13 currently to 100 by 2022.
Thailand's healthcare segment has significant long-term growth potential due to its aging society and increasing health awareness, Company also considers the healthcare and power generation investment model to be similar as both are capital-intensive and time-consuming in terms of returns.
Ratch is an energy and infrastructure company and is 45%-owned by the Electricity Generation Authority of Thailand (EGAT). At present, Ratch has operations in Thailand, Laos, Australia, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam.
ABSOLUTE CLEAN ENERGY TO DEVELOP WASTE-TO-ENERGY PROJECTS
Renewables company Absolute Clean Energy (ACE) has won two waste-to-energy projects in Thailand. The Bangkok-listed company's subsidiaries will develop and operate the plants in the provinces of Nakhon Ratchasima and Udonthani.
The Udonthani project will have a minimum processing capacity of 400 tons of waste per day, while the Nakhon Ratchasima project will have a minimum capacity of 466 tons of waste per day. Both projects will have a total energy capacity of 9.9 MW and will be backed by a combined 25-year power purchase agreement covering 8 MW of capacity. The company is in discussions with Bangkok-headquartered Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) to finance a pipeline of waste-to-energy projects. In 2020, SCB provided a THB 807m (USD 25m) loan to develop a waste-to-energy project in Krabi province.
April 2021
THAI RAIL OPERATOR PLANS USD 4.6BN CAPEX BY 2025
Thai mass transit operator BTS Group plans to increase its capital expenditure to a total of THB 144.6Bn (USD 4.6Bn) in the next three to five years to develop existing rail projects and additional rail lines. The capital will be used to build 64.9 km train lines that are under development and 77.5km of new rail mass transit lines, including the Western Green Line Extension, light rail transit (LRT), Grey Line Phase 1 and the Orange Line.
BTS aimed at a capital expenditure of THB 26bn for the period ending 31 March 2021. The company, which has a market capitalization of THB 126bn. BTS operates about 70 km of train lines in Thailand including Bangkok's BTS Sky Train Core Network, the bus rapid transit system, extension lines for the core network and the Gold Line. The company, which owns media, property and services businesses, is led by its mass transit business that contributed 80% of its THB 39Bn operating revenue for the 2020 calendar year.
The company is currently developing the 34.5 km Khae Rai-Min Buri Pink rail line and the 30.4 km Lat Phrao-Sam Rong Yellow rail line. The group has arranged financing for the two lines through THB 63.36bn of debt facilities from a bank group. It also issued green bonds worth THB 13Bn and THB 8.6Bn in May 2019 and November 2020 respectively, for debt repayments lined to the pink and yellow train lines.
The company aims to operate four lines with a total length of 135 km by the end of 2021. Among train line contracts that the group was aiming to secure, the Orange Line's public-private partnership (PPP) auction was scrapped in February following a lawsuit filed by BTS against a decision of Thailand's Mass Rapid Transit Authority (MRTA) to change the selection criteria. The project included building the 13.4 km western section of the Orange Line and the operation of the entire 35.9 km line for 30 years, starting 2023..
List of Upcoming PPP Projects - Thailand Q2-2021
Source: Inframation, YOG INFRA analysis
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