National oil and gas conglomerate PTT Plc and its power generation arm Global Power Synergy Plc (GPSC) have formed a joint venture in the battery supply chain to support PTT's electric vehicle (EV) production.
The two companies agreed to set up a new firm to study possible investment in battery production and sales while the EV project is shaping up, said Auttapol Rerkpiboon, president and chief executive of PTT.
PTT on Wednesday reported the establishment of Nuovo Plus Co to the Stock Exchange of Thailand.
PTT, through its wholly-owned Arun Plus Co, made a 49% investment in Nuovo Plus. The remaining 51% belongs to GPSC.
Nuovo Plus is set to have registered capital of 4.2 billion baht, with an initial paid-up capital of 1.05 billion baht.
The new firm aims to support investment in a battery production facility in Rayong as well as the charging infrastructure and digital platforms to be developed for use with EVs.
GPSC plans to scale-up its battery production capacity to a gigawatt-hour level after opening the factory in the eastern province.
The facility is claimed to be the first semi-solid battery production facility in Southeast Asia.
The 1.1-billion-baht factory, located in the Map Ta Phut area, currently has the capacity of 30-megawatt hours. It will produce batteries, named "G Cell", to serve EVs like tuk-tuks, buses and motorcycles used for the delivery of goods.
PTT earlier teamed up with Taiwan-based multinational electronics manufacturer Hon Hai Precision Industry Co, also known as Foxconn, to build an EV production plant, which will be located in Eastern Economic Corridor.
Mr Auttapol expects EV production to start within the next 2-3 years, with annual capacity of 50,000 vehicles.