Egco mulls converting plant into hi-tech industrial estate

The plant, located over 500-rai in Huai Pong, Rayong, ceased operations in 2014.
Chanin Chaonirattisai, the director and acting president of Egco Group, said that the development of the industrial estate in Rayong would be in line with the government’s plan for the Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC).
“Our power plant is on the main road going towards Map Ta Phut and the area has a lot of good infrastructure. Once we turn the plant into an industrial estate for high-tech companies, we will be able to get good benefits from the EEC,” he said.
Chanin added that the ongoing study on the industrial estate project in Rayong would be finalised by next year.
Chanin retires from Egco Group on Saturday and will be replaced by Jakgrich Pibulpairoj, who will be the new president effective October 1. Presently, Jakgrich serves as deputy governor for business development at the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat).
Chanin said that Egco Group would pursue its policy of investing in the development of power plants – both conventional and renewable energy.
“We expect the contribution from renewable energies to increase significantly from approximately 23 per cent currently to 30 per cent by 2026,” he said.
Egco Group currently operates 27 power plants, generating 4,352 megawatts of power.
Chanin said that about six new power plant projects are under development with additional combined capacity of 911MW. Their commercial operations would begin from this year until 2019. The projects are: two 220MW natural gas power plants in Banpong district, Ratchaburi; a 455MW coal power plant in San Buenaventura in the Philippines; a 330MW coal power plant in Masinloc in the Philippines; a 1,280MW hydro power plant in Xayaburi in Laos; and a 644.3MW hydro-power plant in Nam Theun in Laos. 
“We are in negotiations to acquire another power plant in Asia. The deal is expected to be concluded by the end of this year,” said Chanin, while declining to reveal the country where the acquisition was being negotiated.
Chanin said that he had joined the Egco Group in October 2015, and had successfully developed many power plant projects, especially the group’s 930MW power plant in Khanom, which became operational on June 19. Those power plants have not only benefited the group’s business, but also ensured the country’s stability in having strong and adequate power supply.
“Our ambition will not be achieved only by expansion of our power plants’ capacities or megawatts; it should be measured in terms of return on equity which should increase by not less than 10 per cent per annum,” he said.
Chanin said that Egco Group has been in the business for almost 25 years and over the past 10 years the group has focused on the expansion of its power plant projects beyond Thailand to potential markets in Asia, including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Laos, as well as Australia.
“I have been with the group for two years and successfully developed many power plant projects. Such success came not only through my efforts but also the strong management team and staff at Egco Group,” he said.
He said that in 2015, the share price of Egco Group stood at Bt150 per share. 
However, the share price jumped by 31 per cent last year. Today, the shares of Egco Group are worth Bt230 per share, up 15 per cent from the beginning of this year.
Chanin said that the group has also enjoyed an average increase of 12 per cent every year over the past five years.
 The group’s net profit surged by 40 per cent in the first six months of this year compared to the first half of the same period last year.