Egco, Yanhee to buid 6 Thai solar plants for $231M

The Egco Group signed a US$231 million joint-venture deal with Yanhee Solar for six solar power plants in Thailand.

The total capacity of the projects is 57MW.

Among these six plants, five are located in Amphur Banglen, Nakorn Prathom Province and another is in Amphur Song Pee Nong, Supanburi Province. They are expected to achieve the commercial operation date in July 2013. All projects will use Polycrystalline solar panel which is high quality and widely accepted.

Sahust Pratuknukul, President of Electricity Generating Public Company Limited or EGCO Group said that the EGCO Group together with Yanhee Solar Power will invest in a proportion of 49:51 per cent respectively to develop six solar power projects with 9.5 MW each.

All projects have entered into a 5-year power purchase agreements with the Provincial Electricity Authority and the company is allowed to renew PPAs every 5 years throughout 25 years of operation. The projects are also subsidized an adder of 8 baht for 10 years from the Power Department Fund Management Division, Office of the Energy Regulatory Commission. The project cost estimated at Bt 7 Billion with capacity to produce electricity around 100 million units a year. The projects will bring down imported fuels by around 25 million liters a year and will reduce the greenhouse gas emission at around 55,000 tons per year”

“EGCO Group is delighted to join hand with Yanhee Solar Power, a highly experienced solar power developer. We are ready to share our expertise in electricity generating to develop and manage the projects as we have joined the development of the 55MW Lopburi Solar Project which has supplied electricity to EGAT”

The investment is in line with EGCO Group's strategies to expand its business towards the renewable energy which is targeted to reach 300 megawatts by 2015 and also responds to the government's Alternative Energy Development Plan for 2012-2021.

“The cooperation between Yanhee Solar Power's experience in solar power development and EGCO Group's 2-decade expertise in the industry is seamless combination in all dimensions such as management, technology and human resource. I believe that the partnership will drive the development of the 57MW solar power projects to become a significant prototype for renewable project in Thailand” said Dr Supot Sumritvanitcha, Managing Director of Yanhee Solar Power Company Limited.