UAC plans to develop EV ecosystem business in Laos

SET-listed UAC Global Plc, a renewable power operator and chemical goods trader, is planning to develop an electric vehicle (EV)-related business in Laos once it adopts EV technology to support its refuse derived fuel (RDF) production and transport within the country.

The company aims to make use of electric trucks and charging facilities first, before venturing into an EV ecosystem business.

Chatchapol Prasopchok, president and chief executive of UAC Global, said the company is conducting a feasibility study on a shift from oil-powered trucks to battery-run vehicles to control the costs of RDF transport and waste management.

UAC Global needs almost 60 trucks to carry RDF and unprocessed waste.

Electric trucks are expected to help the company save 75% of its oil expenses, said Mr Chatchapol.

The use of a fleet of 60 electric trucks should require a budget of more than 100 million baht.

The company also plans to develop EV charging stations along transportation routes.

"Our use of EV trucks and chargers will serve as a prototype for the EV ecosystem business in Laos," said Mr Chatchapol.

The company plans to allocate part of its 2023 capital spending of 270 million baht to support its EV technology development.

Some 100 million baht of the budget will go to the final-phase development of its RDF production facility in Laos's Khammouane province.

The plant, with a production capacity of 120 tonnes a day, will supply the fuel to cement production facilities run by Siam Cement Plc (SCG), Thailand's largest industrial conglomerate.

SCG aims to achieve net-zero in its cement and concrete business by 2050.

The net-zero campaign refers to efforts to strike a balance between carbon dioxide emissions and absorption.

Mr Chatchapol said his company would allocate 20 million baht from capital spending for the final-phase development of its biogas-fired power plant in Khon Kaen's Phu Pha Man district in northeastern Thailand.

The 3-megawatt power plant, under the state's "Energy for All" renewable scheme, is scheduled to begin operations in the second half of this year.