EA restarts expansion of power capacity
Energy Absolute Plc (EA), a renewable energy and electric vehicle (EV) developer and operator, is preparing to expand its power business again after halting new projects to increase electricity generation capacity since 2019.
The current capacity f rom the company’s wind and solar farms is 664 megawatts.
EA decided to diversify into EVrelated businesses after the feed-in tariff, granted by the government to renewable power operators to promote clean energy, was lower than expected, according to EA chief executive Somphote Ahunai in a 2020 interview.
Now EA sees a new opportunity to earn revenue in renewable energy development and will partner with a Chinese company to push ahead with a new project, said Vasu Klomkliang, executive vice-president of EA.
The project details will be concluded in the middle of this year, he said.
EA will focus on rooftop solar power, solar farms and waste-toenergy businesses.
The company’s EV battery production facility should support the solar power business because the factory can develop stationary batteries to use with solar panels, said Mr Vasu.
“We expect t he government’s new national alternative energy development plan to promote more development of solar farms with energy storage systems. This will be a business opportunity for our battery factory,” he said.
In the waste-to-energy business, EA has already been awarded a solid waste management project in Chon Buri’s Ko Lan area and a 9.9MW waste-fired power plant project in Phuket.
Mr Vasu said the company is also planning to take part in a new round of auctions for power projects under the second phase of the state renewable scheme, with a capacity of 3.6 gigawatts.
In 2024, EA expects its revenue to grow by 5-10%, up from the 27.5 billion baht it earned last year, though the firm will lose 4 billion baht in revenue due to the expiry of the adder tariff given to some of its renewable power generation facilities.
New purchase orders of electric buses and trucks assembled by the company should offset the drop in this revenue, said Mr Vasu.
Last year, renewable energy made up 40% of EA’s total revenue, with 37% from EV and batteries, 16% from biodiesel and the remainder from other businesses, including investment in other companies.
Revenue from EV and batteries is expected to increase to 50% of the total over the next few years, the company said.