Gulf Development, a publicly listed company in Thailand and the country’s largest energy firm by market value, along with its telecom operations, has surpassed its renewable energy target five years ahead of schedule. The company recently invested in solar farm projects, enabling it to increase its renewable power share to 40% of its total electricity generation capacity.
Yupapin Wangviwat, CFO of Gulf, explained, “If we consider only the power plants currently in operation, renewable energy accounts for about 10%. However, including the projects recently signed with the government, we have achieved the 40% target.” She added that these projects are expected to begin commercial operations soon.
Recently, Gulf announced a 704 million baht investment through its wholly owned subsidiary, Gulf Renewable Energy Co., to acquire a 50% stake in both Gunkul Solar Powergen Co. and Gunkul One Energy 2 Co. These subsidiaries of Gunkul Engineering—a leading clean energy developer—are preparing to develop nine solar farms with a combined capacity of 461 megawatts.
These solar farms, which won licenses through an auction under the Energy Regulatory Commission’s renewable energy scheme—totaling 5.3 gigawatts—have already secured power purchase agreements with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat). The facilities are set to supply electricity to Egat for 25 years, with commercial operations scheduled between 2026 and 2030.
Ms. Yupapin highlighted that expanding renewable capacity will help Gulf provide cleaner energy to its clients, including data center developers. The company announced plans to develop a data center with a 25MW IT load, scheduled to open in mid-2025.
While Gulf remains committed to expanding its renewable energy portfolio, it is taking a cautious stance on new investments this year due to ongoing global economic and political uncertainties. Chief Executive Sarath Ratanavadi noted that international conflicts and trade tensions among major economies could impact consumer purchasing power and, consequently, electricity demand.
