PTT unit ready to bid for six IPP projects
Group plans power-plant merger for greater competitiveness
PTT Group is interested in bidding on six independent power producer (IPP) projects with a combined capacity of 5,400 megawatts that will be launched soon by the government.
Under the third revision of the Power Development Plan 2010 covering 2010 to 2030, IPPs will be mandated to use natural gas as fuel.
Pailin Chuchottaworn, president and chief executive officer of PTT, said the company was ready to enter the bidding. However, the bid will be handled by a PTT subsidiary that operates the group’s power-plant business.
He said that under Phase 1 of the plan, 5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) per year from abroad would be required to supply the new IPP plants. However, to prepare for greater long-term energy security, PTT is planning for Phase 2, which will include storage facilities and a new port to handle 10 million tonnes of LNG per year, which is the equivalent of 1,400 million cubic feet per day.
A PTT source said the company’s board had agreed to participate in the bid and allowed PTT Utility Co, which is the subsidiary that sells power to the PTT Group and other clients in Map Ta Phut in Rayong province, to take part.
Accordingly, the plan is to merge IPP and SPP (small power producer) plants that belong to the Thai Oil Group with PTT Utility in an attempt to increase the group’s competitive ability. Thai Oil owns two blocks of land in the construction area. IRPC, which also owns land nearby, may participate in a separate bid, which would enable PTT to bid for more than three plants.
Previously, the Energy Ministry was expected to announce the bid at the end of this year and open the bidding early in 2013. The entire project is expected to take seven to nine years before it will be ready to sell electricity to the grid.
The first IPP plant will have a capacity of 900MW and will replace the 700MW Rayong plant owned by the Electricity Generating Co (Egco), which is set to cease operations in 2016. That is why there is a push to speed up the construction process for these new plants to avoid power shortages in the Eastern region.
The rest of the IPPs will be gradually phased into the electrical grid from 2021 onwards.
Apart from PTT, other companies that are expected to enter bids include Egco Group, Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding and Gulf JP, and they all are offering locations that are close to the PTT pipelines.
