Thailand’s largest private power producer Ratchaburi Electricity Generating Holding Plc (RATCH) is set to develop three power plants in Myanmar with a combined capacity of 3,300 megawatts.
The firm’s president Phongdit Photchana said the three projects were still in the preparation stage and would take six or seven years to complete, Thai media reported.
Electricity from all three projects will mainly serve local demand, with the excess to be sold to the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand to secure power for Thailand’s North and South.
Ratch is one of eight bidders from several countries. The three projects include a 200-MW gas-fired plant in Mandalay. Ratch has finished its feasibility study and will submit it to the government this month.
The winning bidder will be announced in October. Myanmar will provide the natural gas feedstock.
The second project is a coal-fired plant in Myeik, southern Myanmar. With a capacity of 2,500 MW, the project has the support of the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation. Public consultation on the coal-fired plant finished two weeks ago.
The third project is a 600-MW lignite mine-mouth plant in Kengtung, for which a feasibility study has been completed and submitted. The mine-mouth plant is anticipated as a joint venture in which Ratch would hold 45 percent, Thailand’s Blue Energy and Environment Co 20 percent and Myanmar the rest.
