QTC looks to expand business in Lao power plants
QTC Energy has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore investment opportunities in Lao hydropower projects.
Chief executive officer Poonphiphat Tantanasin said on Monday the company has an MoU with Chaleun Sekong Group (CSG) of Laos, a firm experienced in developing hydropower projects and the owner of several in Laos.
CSG granted QTC the exclusive right to study and conduct due diligence on two projects with an aggregated installed capacity of 164 megawatts.
The MoU does not oblige QTC to invest in the projects, but is rather a preliminary agreement covering research into the possibilities.
Poonphiphat said the research is in line with QTC’s plans to extend its business into electricity generation and distribution. It wants to alleviate the risk of relying solely on income from the manufacture and distribution of electricity transformers.
QTC has invested in two power plants with combined generating capacity of 33.5MW.
One is in Minbu, Myanmar, with generation capacity under the power-purchase agreement of 170MW (22.5MW when calculated on QTC’s share).
It is expected to commence commercial operations next year.
The other is the L Solar 1 solar-power plant in Thailand’s Prachinburi province with generation capacity under the purchase agreement of 8MW. It has been in operation since 2011.
QTC acquired additional shares in L Solar 1 on September 20.
