SET-listed Electricity Generating (Egco) Group has submitted an application for a licence to become the sixth liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipping operator in Thailand, says president Thepparat Theppitak.
Egco submitted the application to the Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) earlier this month for permission to ship 250,000 tonnes per year to feed its three gas-fired power plants in the pipeline for construction.
He said those power plants include the 256-megawatt Banpong power plant in Ratchaburi, the 121MW Klongluang power plant in Pathum Thani and the 120MW Egco co-generation plant in Rayong.
Banpong and Klongluang have room for additional gas supplies through an existing sales agreement with PTT, the national oil and gas conglomerate, allowing for Egco to become Thailand's sixth LNG shipper.
Mr Thepparat said Egco is considering the risk caused by the high fluctuation of LNG prices in the global market. The company plans to manage the risk by combining long-term and short-term purchase contracts.
In the long term, the company may coordinate with other LNG shippers to make purchases through the same contracts when global LNG prices are declining or when demand for gas in Thailand declines. Potential partners include B.Grimm Power, Gulf Energy Development and Hin Kong Power, which already obtained licences to ship LNG earlier this year.
The two other LNG shippers are PTT and state-run Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
Global Power Synergy, PTT's power generation flagship, is also planning to submit an application to become an LNG shipper.
Mr Thepparat said Egco's 640MW Yunlin offshore wind farm in Taiwan is expected to begin operations in the third quarter next year. As of September, the project was 60.7% complete. The 650MW Nam Theun 1 hydroelectric plant in Laos is 78.4% complete and is due to begin operations in the second quarter of 2022.
The oil pipeline development facility from central Thailand to the Northeast under the Thai Pipeline Network was 50% complete in September and should begin operations in late 2021, he said.