Gulf targets 20% chunk of energy up for auction

Gulf Energy Development, Thailand’s largest private power producer by market value, wants to win the rights to develop new power plants, with capacity accounting for 20% of the 3.6-gigawatt total to be offered in the second-phase auction of renewable energy development projects.
The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC), which is organising the auction under the renewables scheme, is expected to call for bids on projects within this month.
“We expect to be awarded at least 20% of total capacity in the second phase,” said Sarath Ratanavadi, chief executive of Gulf.
He did not comment on the types of renewable energy projects the company may target at the auction.
The 3.6GW capacity in the second phase comprises solar farms (2,632MW), wind farms (1,000MW) and biogas (6.5MW from waste water and solid waste and 30MW from industrial waste).
For the first phase, which was auctioned between late 2022 and April 2023, total capacity was initially 5.2GW, later reduced to 4.85GW.
A source at the ERC said earlier that Gulf commanded the largest share of the capacity in the first phase, comprising 28 projects totalling more than 2GW. All of the company’s proposed projects were awarded development licences.
Up to 198 bidders who met the technical criteria in the previous round will be given a greater share of power generation capacity than new companies in the second-phase auction, said Poonpat Leesombatpiboon, secretary-general of the ERC.
In another development, Mr Sarath is pushing ahead with a plan to merge Gulf with InTouch Holdings after Gulf shareholders approved the merger plan on Thursday.
Amalgamating with InTouch, a major shareholder of Advanced Info Service Plc, the country’s biggest mobile operator, will lead to the establishment of a new firm, with capital spending estimated at 100 billion baht, he said. Most of this spending is for the development of the power business and new asset acquisition, said Mr Sarath.
The new firm will develop a data centre, with power capacity of more than 100MW to supply to computer networks, he said.