Investors

Thai utility to turbocharge power portfolio

Ratch is looking to acquire three large power projects in Indonesia, Laos and China while developing seven solar farms in Thailand.

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Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding (Ratch), an independent power producer in Thailand, has unveiled ambitious plans to expand its power portfolio. 

The company is set to join forces with existing partners to acquire and develop conventional and renewable power projects, both in Thailand and overseas, with a combined capacity of 4,435 megawatts (MW) approximately.
  
Projects currently going through feasibility studies and negotiations include the 2 gigawatt (GW) JAWA7 in Indonesia, the 400MW Sekong 4 hydropower project in Laos, a 2GW power plant in China and seven solar farms in Thailand with a combined capacity of 35MW.

According to Rum Herabat, Ratch's chief executive, the JAWA7 project is currently waiting approval from the Indonesian authorities.

A Joint Development Agreement has been signed with Lao World Engineering & Construction (Lao World) to develop the Sekong 4 hydropower project. Lao World is a subsidiary of Thai World Power Group, already a partner of Ratch in other markets. 

Located in the central and eastern regions of Thailand, seven proposed solar farms are due to serve the public sector. “At least two projects are expected to win,” said Herabat.

Marking its first step into China, Ratch expects to enter into the joint venture agreement for a power plant project in the Middle Kingdom by end of this year. 

Set to push its enterprise value up to THB188 billion (€4.88 billion; $5.22 billion) in 2018, Ratch's short-term business plan includes three main approaches: scouting for new investments, managing the efficiency of its main power plants and completing the construction of new ones. 

Six projects are currently under construction, including two solar farms in Japan, one hydroelectric plant in Laos and three cogeneration plants. The projects have a total capacity of about 464.7MW, which is expected to boost the company's enterprise value by THB30.93 billion. 

As of September 30, Ratch had THB97.13 billion in total asset and about 6.6GW of capacity, 6.1GW of which are already operational. The portfolio covers Thailand, Laos, Australia and Japan.