Gulf Energy Development, Thailand’s largest private power producer by market capitalization, is vying for the rights to develop new power plants with the goal of securing 20% of the 3.6-gigawatt capacity in the second-phase auction for renewable energy development projects.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), which is facilitating the auction as part of its renewable energy initiative, is expected to announce bids for projects this month.
“We anticipate being awarded at least 20% of the total capacity in the second phase,” stated Sarath Ratanavadi, Gulf’s CEO. However, he did not disclose the specific types of renewable energy projects the company is looking to pursue in the auction.
The 3.6GW capacity for this second phase includes 2,632MW from solar farms, 1,000MW from wind farms, and 36.5MW from biogas (6.5MW from wastewater and solid waste, and 30MW from industrial waste).
In the first phase, which took place from late 2022 to April 2023, the initial capacity was set at 5.2GW but was later reduced to 4.85GW. According to an ERC source, Gulf secured the largest portion of this capacity in the first phase, winning development licenses for all 28 of its projects, which totaled over 2GW.
Poonpat Leesombatpiboon, secretary-general of the ERC, mentioned that up to 198 qualified bidders from the previous round will have a greater share of power generation capacity in the second-phase auction than new companies.
In a separate development, Mr. Sarath is moving forward with plans to merge Gulf with InTouch Holdings, following Gulf shareholders’ approval of the merger plan on Thursday.
Combining with InTouch, a significant shareholder in Advanced Info Service Plc, Thailand’s largest mobile operator, will lead to the formation of a new entity with an estimated capital expenditure of 100 billion baht. Mr. Sarath noted that most of this investment will be directed toward developing the power business and acquiring new assets.
The new company will also focus on developing a data center with a power capacity of over 100MW to support computer networks, he added.
