Three Thai firms to invest in Cambodia power plant

Reuters - Thursday, January 31

BANGKOK, Jan 30 - Three leading Thai companies said on Wednesday they were studying plans to build a 3,660-megawatt coal-fired power plant in Cambodia to supply electricity to Thailand.

Top builder Italian-Thai Development PCL , Electricity Generating and Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding gave no indication of how much the plant would cost.

But they said in a statement to the Thai stock exchange they had signed a memorandum of understanding to study joint investment in the plant in the Cambodian coastal province of Koh Kong near the Thai border.

EGCO and Ratchaburi would hold a combined stake of 70 percent and Italian-Thai Power, 15 percent owned by Italian-Thai Development, would have the other 30 percent, they said.

The three firms were talking to the state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand about supplying electricity generated by the plant to Thailand, it said.

Construction was expected to start in 2012 and the plant to begin operations in early 2016, the statement said.

At 0926 GMT, Italian-Thai shares were up 3.9 percent at 8 baht, Electricity Generating was up 2.69 percent and Ratchaburi was 1.18 percent lower.

Cambodia coal plant planned

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand plans to co-invest in a new coal-fired power plant in Cambodia to source 3,000 megawatts under a project worth up to US$4.5 billion.

The new project is in line with Egat's plan to diversify its power sources across the region.

Acting Egat governor Santi Sarntijaree said the state enterprise was negotiating with potential investment partners.

''We expect the Chinese government will hold the largest stake. Other stakeholders will be Cambodian authorities and Egat,'' he said.

Under the agreement, Egat would buy all of the electricity generated from the project.

The project would require investment of $4.2 to $4.5 billion, or 142.8 to 153 billion baht.

The figure assumes an average cost of $1.4 million per megawatt.

The electricity from the project is scheduled to link with the Thai national power grid after the completion of the Hongsa lignite project.

Mr Santi said that the project is the first energy collaboration between Thailand and Cambodia after long negotiations.

Previously, the two governments discussed a smaller 1,400-1,600 mw project, but decided on a larger project for cost reasons.

''To buy power from neighbouring countries is our top choice to secure power to meet Thailand's growing demand, particularly in case we are unable to build more power plants,'' he said.

However, power supplies from neighbouring countries still account for less than 20% of total power generation in Thailand.