Electricity Generating Plc (Egco), the power generation arm of Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand, has completed the acquisition of a 49% stake from the operator of a gas-fired power plant in Rhode Island as it grows its energy business in the US.
The facility, run by Rhode Island State Energy Center (Risec), uses combined cycle gas turbine technology, with a power generation capacity of 609 megawatts.
The new asset, whose value was not disclosed, gives Egco 298MW of additional power generation capacity based on its shareholding, said Thepparat Theppitak, president of Egco.
The company should recognise revenue after the investment, which was made through its wholly-owned subsidiary Egco Risec II, he said.
The asset acquisition process started in November last year when Egco discussed the share purchase with Cogentrix Risec CPOCP Holdings Llc and Cogentrix Risec CPP II Holdings Llc.
Mr Thepparat said the transaction would strengthen Egco's presence in the global power market.
The company expects a number of business synergies to form based on the purchase, leading to additional investment opportunities in other high-quality gas and renewable projects in the US market in the coming years, he said.
The Risec power plant sells electricity in the New England power market.
The plant also has a power contract with Shell Energy North America.
The facility, located adjacent to the load centres of Boston and Providence, plays a key role in stabilising the grid network and offering energy services.
The investment in the Risec power plant is part of Egco's 30-billion-baht worth of capital spending allocated for 2023.
Egco earlier announced it aimed to increase power capacity by 1 gigawatt this year, up from 6.2GW at present, from power plants both in operation and under construction.
The additional capacity includes 44MW from a new wind farm run by Apex Clean Energy in the US.
Egco holds a 17.4% stake in Apex Clean Energy.