Thailand

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is lending $170 million to build a new power plant in Thailand that will provide clean, affordable electricity to help meet the country’s increasing demand for supply. “This is the first large independent power producer (IPP) project to reach financial close in Thailand since the 2008 global economic crisis,” said Daniel Wiedmer, Investment Specialist in ADB’s Private Sector Operations Department. “It incorporates state-of-the-art technology to generate electricity far more efficiently than coal fired systems, which are the only domestic alternative for IPPs.” The 1,600 megawatt natural gas-fired plant, which will be built in Nong Saeng district north of Bangkok under a public private partnership arrangement, will help meet Thailand’s rapidly increasing appetite for electricity. By using clean burning, combined cycle technology to curb harmful carbon releases, the plant will avoid an estimated five million tons of annual carbon dioxide emissions that would otherwise be produced by coal-fired generators. Affordably priced power is crucial for supporting Thailand’s post global crisis economic rebound, for making Thai businesses competitive, and for expanding livelihood opportunities to help reduce poverty. A subsidiary of J-Power?Japan’s largest wholesale power supplier?will develop and operate the plant, with the electricity to be sold to the state-owned Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand under a 25-year power purchase agreement. Thai energy firm PTT Public Company will supply the gas, and a group of companies led by Japan’s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries will build the facilities. ADB’s participation and willingness to provide a long-term loan helped draw co-lending support from commercial banks at a similar tenor. The availability of long dated finance gives J-Power the ability to pay down the plant’s high upfront costs over a longer term, allowing it to provide low-cost energy to consumers in Thailand. ADB is heavily involved in clean energy development in Thailand where it is helping to finance two private sector solar power projects, including one of the world’s largest solar photovoltaic plants in Lopburi. Alongside the investment by J-Power and ADB’s 23-year loan, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and commercial banks – Mizuho Corporate Bank, Ltd., KASIKORNBANK PCL, and Siam Commercial.

The Asian Development Bank is lending $170 million to build a 1,600MW natural-gas fired power plant in Thailand.

J-Power will start work on the 1,600 megawatts scheme by year-end.

Asian Development Bank is providing a $170 million loan for a natural gas fired power plant in Nong Saeng, Udon Thani province, Thailand.

ADB will provide approximately $465 million to support the construction of a 440-megawatt hydropower plant that will supply power to Thailand.

Thailand's EGCO announced its interest in buying a stake in GS Power in order to expand outside Southeast Asia.

Despite all the negative news on Carbon, the biomass energy market will continue to grow.

ASEAN countries need to work with each other in order to achieve energy security, said Prof. Christoph Menke of the University of Applied Sciences in Trier, Germany.

Munich RE had selected Astronergy's thin-film amorphous microcrystalline silicon PV panels for a 1.65MW solar project in Thailand.

 Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said today that its ratings on Thailand-based power companies Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT; BBB+/Stable/--, axA+/axA-1) and Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Public Co. Ltd. (RATCH; BBB+/Stable/--; axA+/--) are unaffected by large-scale flooding in the country. We understand that the flooding has not significantly affected EGAT's power generation plants and transmission networks. Nevertheless, we expect the company's sales will decline in the last quarter of 2011. The flood-related shutdown of several factories and warehouses will lower electricity demand from the industrial segment in the last quarter. RATCH's power generation plants are primarily located in Ratchaburi province, which has not been affected by the floods. In addition, the company's cash flows are protected from any demand-side risk because its power purchase agreements with EGAT ensure steady capacity payments against agreed levels of electricity availability and heat rate. Reuters

Bangchak Petroleum expects to lose about 80-100 million baht or $2.5-3.2 million in monthly revenue due to floods that forced it to temporarily shut its biodiesel and solar power plants.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd wants to raise funds for a coal power plant by establishing a RM5 billion Islamic Securities Programme in nominal value through an independent special purpose company, Manjung Island Energy Bhd.

Burma  vice-president Tin Aung Myint Oo will visit China to soothe tensions after the suspension of a $3.6 billion Chinese-backed dam in the country, reports the Financial Times.

The installations will range in size from one megawatt (MW) to 50MW, with a final total capacity of approximately 520MW.

Mr. LU Qizhou, President of China Power Investment Corporation, admitted he was totally astonished to learn that the Myanmar government will suspend the on-going Myitsone Hydropower Project.

The Burmese government has suspended a highly controversial hydroelectric dam project due to growing public opposition.