Ratch Group Plc, Thailand's largest private power producer by capacity, expects to conclude three deals on new asset purchases in the third quarter of this year to put it on track to add 700 megawatts of electricity generation capacity to its portfolio in 2022.
Choosri Kietkajornkul, chief executive of Ratch, said yesterday that the company aims to buy assets in countries with major energy development projects in Asia Pacific under its 30-billion-baht capital spending plan for this year.
The budget can be increased to 80 billion baht if the assets are large electricity generation facilities.
Ratch said earlier that it was determined to add 700MW of capacity this year through more asset acquisitions and new development projects.
The additional capacity equals last year's target, although Ratch ended 2021 with a 1,120MW increase in capacity.
The new capacity will come from both fossil fuel-fired power plants and renewable power development projects, Ms Choosri said.
The additional capacity, along with that of power plants under construction, will bring total power generation capacity to 9,920MW this year, up from 9,220MW.
Ratch is focusing on clean energy development, with a plan to increase the proportion of renewable energy to 25% by 2025, from 15%, and to 40% by 2035.
Its emphasis on clean energy is in line with the government's ongoing campaigns against global warming, which is blamed for causing climate change.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha vowed during the 26th UN Climate Change Conference in Glasgow last year that Thailand would be more aggressive in addressing climate change, striving to reach carbon neutrality, a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption, by 2050, and a net-zero target by 2065.
Sharing the same aim as carbon neutrality, the net-zero campaign refers to attempts to strike a balance between greenhouse gas emissions and absorption.
Ratch is also interested in businesses that require modern energy technologies. It said earlier that it wants to venture into peer-to-peer power trade, smart grid development and energy storage systems, all of which are expected to support renewable energy policies.
