Banpu Power 11% increase!

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation stood at Bt1.38 billion, while total net profit was Bt1.04 billion. During this quarter, Banpu Power also increased its power generating capacity by 77 megawatts electric (MWe) to 2,011MWe. The company affirmed its strategic plan to achieve total equity-based power generation capacity of 4,300MWe, of which a minimum of 20 per cent will be renewables-based, by the end of 2025.

Voravudhi Linananda, chief executive officer of Banpu Power, said: “Our operating results in the first quarter of 2017 reflect the steady operational performance and strong revenue from our power plants based in Thailand, Lao PDR, China and Japan.”

“The company has continuously expanded its power business growth with a total power generating capacity of 2,011MWe, of which 1,857MWe came from coal-fired power plants and 154MWe from solar power plants. In this quarter, all the three units of Hongsa Power Plant were fully operational, while the solar power projects in Hui’en and Deyuan, with a total capacity of 70MW, are already operating commercially.”

He said the company has signed an agreement for the rights to invest in a 10MW Xingyu solar project. “Our power plant projects will continue operating commercially according to the company’s five-year plan. With our strong financial status, we will consider any new investment opportunity through both conventional and renewable energy in Asia to ensure sustainable growth,” he said.

Operational profit from the BLCP power plant was Bt752 million while the Hongsa Power Plant generated Bt570 million, a significant increase compared to the Bt80 million from the same quarter last year. Voravudhi said the improvement was mainly driven by the full commercial operations of all its three units, especially unit 1 which worked without interruptions. However, net profits from both plants exclude exchange rate translation loss.

In China, the three Combined Heat and Power plants in Luannan, Zhengding and Zouping generated revenue of Bt1.80 billion due to the higher demand for power and steam. Meanwhile, the company’s solar power plants generated Bt127 million revenue, an increase of 140 per cent year on year thanks to the additional 70MW capacity from the Hui’en and Deyuan projects, which were put into commercial operation earlier this year.

Banpu Power said it is would continue to grow its business in both power and steam generation from conventional and renewable energy and it was on track to achieve 2,600MWe power generating capacity by 2020.

The company is increasing 484MWe from new projects including Zouping CHP plant phase 4, Shanxi Lu Guang, which reached 42-per-cent progress in the construction phase, and Luannan CHP plant phase 2. The three plants will start commercial operations in the middle of this year, 2019 and 2020 respectively. In addition, renewable power generating capacity will be increased by 107MW from nine solar projects in China and Japan, which are scheduled to begin operations from this year to 2020.

“Banpu Power has been generating asset growth in every country it currently operates. We believe the company will be able to expand power generating capacity to 4,300MWe, with a minimum of 20 per cent from renewables by the end of 2025,” Voravudhi said.

He added that the company would continue to seek investment opportunities in Thailand, Lao PDR, China, Japan, Indonesia and Vietnam.