Wind Energy Holding Co. Plans $550 Million of Projects in Thailand by 2016

Wind Energy Holding Co., a Bangkok-based wind project developer, plans to erect three 90-MW wind farms in Korat, Thailand by 2016. The three wind farms would, thus, have a combined electricity generation capacity of 270 MW.

The wind farms would be located in Korat, which is north of Bangkok, in Thailand.

This project is expected to cost as much as $550 million. Thailand imports 80% of its oil and it is working hard to reduce its dependence on foreign fossil fuels. As part of that, the nation is aiming to obtain 25% of its electricity from renewable sources, including wind, by 2022.

The vice president of business development, Aaron Daniels, said that the company is seeking lenders and equity investors for its projects and plans to set up a bidding operation late this quarter or early in the next.

According to Daniels, the company has started development of another $400-million, 207-MW wind farm at a nearby site. 70% of the cost of the project will be paid for by loans from Kasikornbank Pcl and Siam Commercial Bank Pcl.

“They’re a first of a kind project,” he said. “No one has done utility-scale turbine projects in Thailand before.”

Siemens AG is supplying 90 wind turbines for the second 207-MW project, each of those turbines having an electricity generation capacity of 2.3 MW. The project is being developed in equal portions called “FKW” and “KR2.”

The Thailand government provides financial incentives for wind power and wants to install 1,200 MW of wind farms by 2021.

h/t Bloomberg.com | Korat photos via Tom BKK & Marisa Antonaya & Tom BKK, respectively