Latest news with #Sinon
Bangkok Post
09-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Sinon Vongkusolkit Named Tatler Gen.T 2025 Honouree
Recognising visionaries who are shaping the future of Asia, Tatler has announced its list of 2025 Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow—a prestigious honour awarded to exceptional young leaders who are not only excelling in their fields but also driving innovation, social value, and positive change across the region. Among the distinguished honourees is Mr Sinon Vongkusolkit, Chief Executive Officer of Banpu Public Company Limited. Mr Sinon has over 10 years of experience in the energy sector. In 2022, he was appointed the CEO of Banpu NEXT, where he played a key role in advancing Banpu Group's clean energy and energy technology businesses. In 2024, he became the CEO of Banpu and has held the position since, bringing a forward-thinking vision focused on driving energy sustainability that is reliable, affordable, and eco-friendly to address global energy challenges. He is also leading the adoption of AI technology to enhance operational efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. The Tatler's Gen.T Leaders of Tomorrow aims to build a community of next-generation leaders. In 2025, about 200 leaders were selected from nine markets across Asia including China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia, with 30 from Thailand. The honourees represent a diverse group, such as innovators, entrepreneurs, designers, and artists, as well as leaders driving social enterprise and sustainability initiatives.
Bangkok Post
04-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Banpu Shares Indonesia Investment Insights at Forum
Bangkok, July 4, 2025 – Indonesia's expanding energy market and strategic economic role continue to draw forward-looking investors from across the region. Amid rapid development and rising domestic energy demand, the country presents compelling opportunities for businesses with a long-term vision and commitment to sustainable growth. These themes took centre stage at the Indonesia Investment & Trade Forum 2025, where Banpu Public Company Limited shared its success story and investment outlook in the Indonesian energy sector. Mr Sinon Vongkusolkit, Chief Executive Officer of Banpu Public Company Limited, participated as a speaker at the forum, which was jointly organised by Bangkok Bank and Indonesia's Permata Bank. As a company recognised for its successful operations in Indonesia, Banpu offered insights into investing in one of the region's most promising and strategically important markets—economically, socially, and environmentally—while also laying the foundation for next-generation energy ventures. During the session, Mr Sinon expressed Banpu's confidence in Indonesia's abundant energy resources and the strong partnerships that enable mutually beneficial outcomes. He also noted the country's dynamic energy sector growth, supported by increasing domestic demand and the evolution of energy-related technologies and innovations. Stay informed on Banpu's latest news and developments at or
Bangkok Post
04-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Banpu sinks B2.37bn into joint venture
Energy conglomerate Banpu Plc has spent A$110 million (2.37 billion baht) on a joint investment in energy storage development in Australia, seeking to benefit from the country's rapid transition to clean energy and expand the company's renewable energy business. Also known as battery energy storage systems (BESS), this equipment serves as an electricity backup to ensure a steady supply to businesses and households produced by renewable sources. Solar and wind are intermittent sources of power, as production from these sources depends on weather conditions and the season. Solar and wind farms require batteries in order to store electricity for use when they are not able to generate power. "The Australian energy market is undergoing a rapid transition. That's why BESS is playing an important role in providing continuous and stable energy," said Sinon Vongkusolkit, chief executive of Banpu. Banpu, through its wholly-owned subsidiary Banpu Energy Australia Pty, has acquired a 50% share in the Wooreen Energy Storage System project, with the other 50% belonging to Energy Australia, one of three key electricity retailers in Australia's national electricity market. Total investment in the project stands at A$700 million (15.1 billion baht), which comprises the two companies' investment budgets, along with bank loans. The Wooreen Energy Storage System project, which is located in the Latrobe Valley region of the State of Victoria, is designed to have an electricity carrying capacity of 1,400 megawatt-hours. This will enable the facility to supply power to 230,000 houses continuously for four hours during peak demand. The project, which will support the establishment of a clean energy grid, is embedded with artificial intelligence technology, which allows it to analyse data to determine when to store or supply electricity to the grid. The facility is under construction and is set to commence operations in the second half of 2027. At this point, Banpu will begin to recognise revenue from the project, said Mr Sinon. The project is expected to rack up revenue from energy market volatility. Banpu is pushing ahead with projects that focus on renewable energy development in order to cut its share of earnings from trading in coal.
Bangkok Post
01-07-2025
- Business
- Bangkok Post
Banpu Invests in 350MW Battery Project in Australia
Banpu Public Company Limited, a versatile energy company, has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Banpu Energy Australia Pty Limited (BEN), has signed an agreement to acquire a 50% interest in the Wooreen Energy Storage System (WESS) project. The remaining 50% is held by EnergyAustralia. Located in Latrobe Valley, Victoria, Australia, the project will have a power capacity of 350 megawatts and a storage capacity of 1,400 megawatt-hours. The WESS project will be capable of supplying electricity to up to 230,000 households continuously for four hours during peak demand. With a total project value of approximately AUD 700 million (equivalent to THB 15,105 million), BEN's equity contribution amounts to around AUD 110 million (THB 2,374 million). Currently under construction, the project is expected to commence operations and begin generating revenue in the second half of 2027. This investment represents a significant milestone in the expansion of Banpu's 'Renewables+' portfolio, which encompasses renewable energy and related businesses under the company's Energy Symphonics strategy. Mr Sinon Vongkusolkit, Chief Executive Officer of Banpu Public Company Limited, said, 'Australia's energy market is undergoing a rapid transformation in power generation. Battery energy storage systems (BESS) are crucial for ensuring supply reliability, integrating clean energy into the grid, and generating revenue from market fluctuations. BESS stores energy from various sources and uses AI-powered software to analyse data, helping to determine the optimal times to store and discharge electricity into the commercial grid.' Banpu's BESS investment aligns with its Renewables+ strategy to build large-scale pipelines of renewable assets — including BESS — in key global markets. The initiative also features long-term portfolio optimisation in response to evolving energy trends, ensuring efficient management in strategic countries where Banpu operates. The project includes a long-term offtake agreement with EnergyAustralia, a leading electricity generator and retailer, ensuring stable revenue generation. 'In the transition towards sustainable energy, we believe BESS will be vital in supporting clean energy infrastructure and will serve as a driving force for Banpu's Energy Symphonics as we progress towards reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 20% by 2030 and achieving Net Zero by 2050,' Mr Sinon concluded.
Irish Times
21-06-2025
- Business
- Irish Times
Despite being obsessed with money, Donald Trump does not understand how it works
In Dante's Inferno, the poet reserved one of his most ghastly punishments for the crime of forgery. Canto 30 of the Inferno describes the counterfeiter 'Adamo' condemned to the eighth circle of hell, just one above Lucifer in the ninth. In this Canto, Dante and Virgil, his guide through the underworld, meet two falsifiers, one of whom is Maestro Adamo/Master Adam, a counterfeiter who in Dante's youth had tried to debase the Florentine florin. Adamo has studied in Brescia, an Italian city in competition with Florence. He was persuaded by prosperous counts from Romena to debase the florin by replacing three carats of the usually pure gold coin with copper. The coin weighed almost the same, but it was a fake. Dante compares Adam to another liar, Sinon the Greek, the man who tricked the Trojans into believing the Trojan horse was an innocent gift. This betrayal led to the destruction of an entire civilisation. READ MORE Why would Dante equate Adam, an everyday opportunistic counterfeiter, with Sinon, the man who betrayed Troy? It seems disproportionate, but only if we fail to appreciate the central role of the florin in underpinning the might of Florence. In Dante's tale, the man who was undermining the reserve currency was a two-bit fraudster, Adam, whereas today the man undermining the world's reserve currency, the US dollar, is the president of the United States, Donald Trump . Traditionally, when the world is at war, financial markets experience a flight to quality, meaning to dollars. The opposite is happening and, for the first time in 100 years, the world is starting to doubt America's commercial credibility. In the Florentine Republic one florin was worth about €125 in today's money, and to give you a sense of what that meant at the time, a slave girl or a mule could be bought for 50 florins – about €6,000. As the Florentines expanded commercially throughout Europe, the florin became the trademark of the strength of the city as much as a medium of exchange. Pure gold, weighing 3.53 grammes, it became the reserve currency of mercantile Europe, giving it the pre-eminent role in international finance, like the US dollar today. Across the Continent, goods were exchanged in florins, debts were settled in florins, loans were extended in florins and wealth was measured and stored in florins. In the 14th century, the florin became the hardest currency in Europe, accepted widely as the unit of account from London and Bruges in the north, to Alexandria and Tyre in the south. When the world accepts your currency readily, it gives the currency that most elusive of qualities: liquidity. A simple definition of liquidity is the ease and time it takes to settle a trade in a currency. The more liquidity, the easier it is to trade. If, in the case of a coin, there is significant demand for the products underpinning the coin, the number of coins supplied will go up and, while their value will stay the same, their intrinsic usability and therefore practical value increases. Given its liquidity, everyone wanted to settle their account with the florin. The state that mints the money that everyone wants has soft power. Soft power is the power of persuasion. In today's context, consider the power the US dollar gives the United States. Oil, copper, steel, uranium, rare earths, timber, cotton, silk, diamonds – all these commodities are priced internationally in dollars, and to buy them the purchaser must first buy dollars, which the US generates for free. This gives the US a big advantage in global financial affairs. Given such high stakes, why would any president mess with America's most potent weapon? Because, despite being obsessed by money, he doesn't really understand money, how it works and what maintains its mystique. It's about trust (that most ephemeral of characteristics), financial stability and the long-term robustness of entire economic system. [ US borrowing costs top 5% after Moody's downgrade Opens in new window ] Reputations are very hard to establish but easy to squander. Donald Trump is squandering America's reputation as a serious country. The US's economic mix is now a unpredictable mess of unfocused tax cuts, broadening but incoherent tax loopholes, incremental attacks on the rule of law and, of course, chaotic trade wars and tariffs. While these may generate headlines, they do not promote financial stability. In the meantime, in plain sight, the Trump family are enriching themselves in cryptocurrencies. Congress is blessing this heist, while the US president habitually insults the Federal Reserve chairman, stating this week that he'd do a far better job himself, if only he could appoint himself . Is it any surprise that rational people are avoiding the dollar? The real dilemma is that Trump is behaving like a medieval king burning through the kingdom's treasury, which is already overspending. The US federal debt-to-GDP ratio is at its highest level in postwar history and climbing. At 97 per cent to 99 per cent of GDP, the debt is up from 35 per cent of GDP in the 1980s and about 60 per cent before the 2008 financial crisis. This level is comparable to the debt burden just after the second World War (when it peaked around 106 per cent of GDP in 1946). In the past 12 months, the US government spent in excess of $1.8 trillion more than it took in, marking the fifth year in a row with a deficit above $1 trillion. One of the most immediate consequences of high debt is the surging cost of interest. As debt has grown, and the Federal Reserve's rate hikes in 2022–2023 filtered through to government borrowing costs, interest costs have skyrocketed. Last year, the US Treasury paid about $882 billion in interest on the federal debt, roughly 3.1 per cent of GDP. [ Donald Trump pressures Republicans to back his 'big, beautiful' tax Bill Opens in new window ] To put that in perspective, America now spends more just to service its debt than it spends on national defence or Medicare. On top of this already-fraught situation, the One Big Beautiful Act with its tax cuts for the wealthy, will add more debt to the existing $36.7 trillion pile. Official estimates suggest the Trump tax cuts will add another $2.4 trillion to the debt. So who is going to buy all this new debt? Foreigners who historically buy a large share of US Treasuries bought only about 59 per cent of a recent 30-year Treasury auction, the lowest foreign participation since 2019. If foreign investors are to be coaxed to buy more US IOUs then they will have to be offered a higher rate of interest, which could push the US into recession, or a lower dollar which means that the US debt is made cheaper for foreigners. Once this occurs, the dollar and the Donald become intertwined. As US economic credibility is shredded, so too the mystique of the reserve currency. It's early days but a world where the US dollar is not the only reserve currency could be upon us. The Florentine florin was the world's reserve currency for close to 250 years, from the time of Dante to the discovery of the Americas. Wars, poor decision-making and over-spending at home in Florence, as well as the emergence of other commercial powers abroad, chipped away at its elevated status. Could something similar be happening to the US dollar now? Of course it could.
