Water rushing out of open gates of a hydro electric power station
A wholly-owned unit of Gulf Development—an energy-to-telecommunications conglomerate controlled by billionaire Sarath Ratanavadi—has agreed to buy out its partner’s stake in a hydro power project in Laos as the Bangkok-listed company steps up investments in clean energy facilities.
Gulf Hydropower Holdings is acquiring 60% of the 770-megawatt Pak Lay Power—which is building a hydroelectric power plant in the Mekong region—for $128 million from Sinohydro (Hong Kong) Holding, a Chinese state-linked company.
The deal raises its stake in Pak Lay Power to 100%, Gulf Development said in a filing to the Stock Exchange of Thailand. Pak Lay Power will supply all its electricity output to Thailand when it starts commercial operations in 2032 under a 29-year contract with the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand.
Gulf has been increasing investments in renewable energy facilities to reduce the group’s greenhouse gas emissions, moving it closer to its net zero target by 2050.
In recent months, the company announced total investments of 102 billion baht ($3.2 billion) in solar and wind energy projects with a total capacity of 746.6 megawatts, as well as in a liquefied natural gas terminal project at the Map Ta Phut industrial port in eastern Thailand.
Gulf—one of Thailand’s biggest power producers—has been diversifying in recent years and has become one of the country’s largest conglomerates with interests in data centers, telecommunications, and digital infrastructures. It was founded in 2007 by Sarath, one of the nation’s wealthiest tycoons with a net worth of $12 billion.