China-Asean fund invests in National Power Supply

Apichai Sorpitiporn, senior executive vice president of NPS, said CAF was committed to funding of around 10 per cent to support various alternative-energy programmes. These include the construction of two biomass power plants at 304 Industrial Park in Prachin Buri province and a 600-megawatt power plant project in Chachoengsao province under the Independent Power Producer (IPP) scheme.

 “It is an honour that a world-class investor like CAF has chosen to invest in Thailand’s sustainable-energy development and power sector,” Apichai said. 

“This investment brings finances to support many NPS projects. It also supports our competitive advantage in terms of modern technology development and knowledge transfer to improve overall operating performance. We believe that this investment will also help prepare Thailand’s power business for the upcoming AEC in 2015.”

Li Ruogu, chairman of both China Export-Import Bank and CAF, said that as Thailand’s economy continued to grow, there was a pressing demand for increased power generation. 

CAF is confident that NPS is an excellent investee company because it has a strong commitment to renewable energy, which is tightly aligned with its commitment to invest in sustainable development.

CAF is a private-equity fund focused on investment opportunities in infrastructure, energy and natural resources in the Asean region and China sponsored by the China Exim Bank. CAF currently has investments in Cambodia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand and continues to pursue investment opportunities across the 10-country Asean. NPS is CAF’s eighth investment and its second foray into Thailand.

Currently, NPS has eight power plants in operation, while two new ones will soon be established at 304 Industrial Park. The construction will commence after the signing of mutual agreement between NPS and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand. Once the construction of the projects is complete next year, NPS will have a production capacity of 700MW.

NPS is not only a leader in power generation, it is also among the first in the industry to initiate the development of a new alternative energy resource it calls “Ton Palang Ngan” (Energy Tree).

Energy Tree, a fast-growing tree that matures in two years, has a high heat value, which is perfect for electri city generation. Energy Trees can be harvested three times and can be an additional source of additional income for Thai farmers. 

Aside from Energy Tree, NPS has developed Napier grass as another alternative energy source. This year it will start using Napier grass to generate sustainable power.

NPS is the main energy business under Double A Power group.