B Grimm eyes biomass, natural gas industry

“The strength of biomass is that it produces clean energy and can help improve the local economy by providing a sustainable source of income to local farmers,” she said. “We are aiming to invest in biomass business through merging or acquiring existing operators. Details are expected to be finalised by the first quarter of 2021, while the company is also expecting to close the deal on the acquisition of power plants in Thailand and Malaysia, most of which use natural gas as primary fuel.”

Preeyanat also said B Grimm was waiting for a finalisation of the investment criteria for the community power plant project, which the government is working on. She added that the company was ready to support the project as it will help create jobs and boost grassroots economy.
“However, we think the new criteria requiring investors to allocate at least 80 per cent of their farming area to grow new crops may be difficult to implement, while the retail rate of electricity should be increased in order to attract more investors,” she said.
“B Grimm expects to invest in six to seven community power plants, all of which will use biomass as fuel, with a total capacity of 60 megawatts or about 8MW per plant,” she said. “These plants will be located either in the Central region or the South.”
B Grimm is also in the process of importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) after it was given a licence by the Energy Regulatory Commission to import up to 650,000 tonnes per year. “We are negotiating with PTT Group to rent their warehouse for the first lot of 250,000 tonnes of LNG which should be gradually imported in the next two years,” she added.