This phase will provide for 80 MW of power under a 20-year concession. The company aims to start construction next year and for power distribution to begin in 2021.

Sutee Sukruan, chief executive officer of BPP, said that the company had made Vietnam its first priority for overseas investment. Recently, the company invested in its wholly-owned wind farm project at Soc Trang province in the country’s south. This wind farm project consists of two phases, with the first providing for 80 MW of power.

Of the total, the first 30 MW section will see construction start in the middle of next year; it is due to be completed in 2020. Construction for a further 30 MW section and the remaining 20 megawatts is expected to be completed in 2021, with power distribution to start that year.

The second phase of 120 megawatts will be located in an area close to the first phase and is undergoing a detailed study.

The company expects to spend US$2 million per megawatt, totalling US$400 million, or about Bt13 billion for the whole wind farm project in Vietnam.

“The wind farm project has a concession of 20 years and we expect the first phase of 80 MW to reach break-even within 8 to 10 years,” Sutee said.

BPP is also studying solar and wind farms projects in Vietnam. which plans to raise power production capacity from 43,000 MW to 130,000 MW by 2030. Of the total, 21 per cent will be produced from alternative energy.

Of those to be produced from alternative energy, about 6,000 MW will come from wind farms, 12,000 MW from solar farms and the rest from other types of alternative energy.

The company is conducting a feasibility study on investing in coal-fired power plants after selling coal to power plants in Vietnam for a long period. In 2018, BPP has sold 1.3 million tonnes of coal to Vietnam.

“The company’s advantages are our direct discussions with the Vietnamese government, while others have acquired licences from local investors. We have given the Vietnamese government more confidence. We’ve also made long-term investment in other countries, focusing on building good relationships with local communities,” Sutee said.

Aside from Vietnam, BPP plans to invest in the Philippines and Indonesia, which are seeing high growth for power usage and have been destinations for Banpu’s coal sales for a long time, he said. Now, BPP is studying details for investment in both countries.

In 2019, BPP plans to invest $90 million on power plants in total. Of this outlay, $30 million will be spent on a solar farm project in Japan, $50 million in China and $10 million on a wind farm in Vietnam.

In the third quarter of this year, BPP’s earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rose 6 per cent year on year to Bt1.25 billion and net profit increased 12 per cent year on year to Bt940 million.