MAI-listed TPC Power Holding (TPCH), the power business arm of engineering and construction service provider Thai Poly Con Plc (TPC), is planning to expand power generation capacity of its subsidiary Siam Power Co (SP) to make it a flagship waste-to-energy (WTE) business.
TPCH, a holding company which invests in renewable energy firms, acquired shares in SP and became its major shareholder five years ago.
SP won an auction for the development of a 9.5-megawatt WTE plant in Nonthaburi's Sai Noi district. The plant, currently under construction, is scheduled to start operation in the third quarter this year.
SP was also granted a 10-year landfill operation concession from Nonthaburi authorities. The landfill, covering 137 rai, can deal with 3.8 million tonnes of waste.
TPCH managing director Cherdsak Wattanavijitkul said SP is also conducting a feasibility study on the expansion of the WTE facility by another 5 units nationwide.
Each unit will have commercial contract-based capacity of 6.5-8MW, he said.
TPCH plans to allocate capital spending worth 150 million baht to develop each 1MW capacity. The cost is higher than 75 million baht usually set aside for capacity expansion in other biomass power plants.
TPCH shareholders have recently approved a plan to issue debentures worth 3 billion baht which will serve as capital spending, working capital and debt refinancing.
In the long term, TPCH also plans to list SP on the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
This year TPCH plans to generate 740 million kilowatt hour (KWh) of electricity from its 11 biomass plants, including SP's WTE plant, a 60% increase from 460 million KWh last year.
The company also owns two other biomass plants, which are under construction.
TPCH plans to double its total power generation capacity to 250MW within 2022 through WTE and biomass power plant expansion.
Mr Cherdsak said the company sees more opportunities in WTE projects because, under the national power development plan, WTE is set to make up 900MW of electricity generation capacity, up from 200MW, in the next two decades.
In Energy for All renewable power projects, to be co-developed by companies and communities, TPCH bid for 12 projects, with combined capacity of 40MW.
Energy authorities expect to announce companies qualified for the projects in September and will sign power purchase agreements in December.