Spanish renewables company Acciona Energía and its Singapore-based participated company The Blue Circle have just secured a power purchase agreement (PPA) for 436 MW of wind farms in Thailand.
The projects have been allocated through a tender process by Thailand’s Office of Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) and will have a staged development timeline. The first wind farm is slated to commence construction in 2024. The completion date of the separate projects staggers from 2026 until 2030.
All energy generated by these projects will be directly purchased by the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT, a state-owned enterprise managed by the Ministry of Energy) through a 25-year PPA, as part of the Thai Government’s plan to guarantee a supply of renewable energy of up to 30% by 2037.
Four of the projects will be located in the Northeast provinces of Ubon Ratchatani and Amnat Charoen, while the fifth one will be built in the region of Chaiyaphum. Once operational, the combined wind farms will produce 1,141 GWh/year, reducing CO2 emissions by 645,000 tons a year, the equivalent to removing 250,000 cars from circulation or to planting 19 million trees.
Acciona Energía entered a strategic agreement with The Blue Circle to develop, build and operate its pipeline of projects in Southeast Asia in September 2022. The entity, headquartered in Singapore and with Acciona Energía owning a close-to 50% stake, already has an installed operational capacity of 84 MW in Vietnam and has a development pipeline of 3.8 GW in Vietnam, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.
The award of these five new projects in Thailand reinforces Acciona Energía’s presence in the region and its growth and geographic diversification plans.
(Sources: Acciona Energia; Renewables Now)