France’s Engie working with Thai partner on energy solutions
Engie Group, one of the world’s largest energy groups, is interested in expanding its products and services, particularly business-to-business energy-efficiency and renewable-energy solutions, in support of the “Thailand 4.0” master plan.
Chief executive officer Isabelle Kocher said the company planned to boost production in this region of renewable energy, including solar, wind and waste-to-energy.
Engie, a French multinational that has a 69-per-cent stake in Thailand’s GLOW Energy, is working with strategic partner WHA Utilities and Power to build an industrial waste-to-energy plant in Chon Buri province.
The plant, scheduled for operation in December 2019, will have a gross operating capacity of 8.63 megawatts and will operate under the feed-in-tariff scheme.
The group aims to work on new technologies that will be ready within five to 10 years.
“In Thailand, we supply industrial customers with power through GLOW, offering both electric and steam power, and help conserve energy, for example by 20-30 per cent for a large building, by using smart systems,” Kocher said.
“We target industries, buildings and even cities like Bangkok, where we can help improve the quality of life, for example by reducing air pollution.”
The potential for new technology is high in Asean countries such as Thailand and Indonesia, where Engie is also highly active, she said.
As for the Thai government’s interest in using coal, she said coal might be cheaper commercially, but from an environmental and health point of view, it turned out to be costlier in the end.
“We will promote only new technology and decided not to build any more coal power plants,” she said.
As the use of renewable energy sources expands, the cost can get lower.
“We are working on ways to reduce the cost in the future, and governments around the world are progressively changing their views on the real-cost policy.”
