“It depends on the government’s policy, if it will open up (the natural gas industry), or will still keep PTT’s sole authority,” president Chanin Chaonirattisai said yesterday.

In case Krabi’s coal-fired power plant cannot go ahead, the government may turn to gas-fired power plants and the country will need to import more LNG.

“If the Energy Ministry will limit the role of PTT in building LNG terminals, we may able to help supply (LNG),” he said.

The Petroleum Institute of Thailand, which conducted a study on behalf of the Energy Regulatory Commission, has recommended that the government break up the monopoly of PTT, the state-controlled energy conglomerate, in the LNG industry by allowing other investors to build LNG receiving terminals to serve the country’s growing demand for LNG after PTT commences its second five million tonne per year terminal in Map Ta Phut next year.

Voravit Potisuk, senior executive vice president for Egco, said yesterday that the firm would partner with Tepco, its second largest shareholder, and other Thai investors to build LNG receiving facilities for supplying other LNG consumers in Thailand.

The country is forecast to require 15 million tonnes of additional LNG imports over the next 20 years to replace dwindling supplies of piped natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand and Myanmar’s fields, he said.

“Japan and Thailand could be complementing each other well (in LNG trading) since they have different seasons of high demand for LNG.

“But the risk is also high because if we trade one million tonnes, it will involve tens of billions of baht. We have to consider carefully,” he said.

Egco would focus on exploring further investment opportunities in the countries where it already has established foundations – particularly the Philippines and Laos.

It is also eyeing Indonesia and Australia where it has already started some investments, as well as other nations such as Myanmar and Vietnam.

Besides conventional power generation, the group is also looking to invest in other businesses that it considers having potential such as renewable energy in the Philippines and other neighbouring countries.

Renewable energy, including hydropower, is expected to increase its share to 20 per cent of Egco’s total generating capacity by 2025 from 14-15 per cent at present.

Egco is pushing for the development of five power projects in other Asean countries:

-US$2.4 billion, 1-gigawatt Pak Beng hydropower project in Laos

– $1.40 billion, 650-megawatt Nam Theun 1 hydropower project in Laos

– $400 million, 450MW LNG-fired power project in Dawei, Myanmar

– 1.22-gigawatt coal-fired project in Quang Tri, Vietnam

– 60MW expansion of its Star Energy Geothermal power plant in Indonesia

“The Nam Theun 1 project is progressing well. We expect to sign the PPA (power purchase agreement) by no later than June and to finalise loan agreements in September,” he said. Egco expects its operating profit to grow by 5 per cent this year.

It remains committed to its goal to achieve Bt10 billion in operating profit next year.

Chanin admitted it might be more difficult for the group to maintain its 10-per-cent annual profit growth rate that it has achieved for the last five years since 2001, in the future.