Gulf hits renewable target 5 years early
The company reached the goal ahead of the target year of 2030.
"If we calculate our renewable power generation only for power plants in operation, the proportion is 10%. But if we include projects recently signed with the government, then we meet the 40% target," said Yupapin Wangviwat, chief financial officer of Gulf.
"These projects are set to start commercial operation soon."
Gulf recently announced it spent 704 million baht through its wholly-owned subsidiary Gulf Renewable Energy Co to acquire a 50% share in Gunkul Solar Powergen Co and another 50% share in Gunkul One Energy 2 Co.
The two firms, subsidiaries of SET-listed Gunkul Engineering, an integrated clean energy developer, are preparing to develop nine solar farms with combined capacity of 461 megawatts.
The firms won licences to develop the solar farms in an auction held under the Energy Regulatory Commission's renewable energy scheme that had a total capacity of 5.3 gigawatts.
Gunkul already signed power purchase agreements with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (Egat) to sell electricity from the solar farms.
The facilities, which will supply power to Egat for 25 years, are scheduled to start commercial operations between 2026 and 2030.
Ms Yupapin said additional renewable energy capacity will enable Gulf to supply clean power to its clients, notably data centre developers.
Gulf announced earlier it would develop a data centre with an IT load of 25MW, scheduled to open in the middle of this year.
The company is adopting a cautious approach to new investment this year to avoid risks caused by global economic and political uncertainties.
Geopolitical conflicts in many parts of the world and a trade war among major economies can affect businesses in the energy sector.
These conflicts may weaken consumer purchasing power, eventually affecting electricity demand, Sarath Ratanavadi, chief executive of Gulf, said earlier.
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