Bonds purchase to support BCPG’s storage ambitions

BCPG Plc, the renewable energy arm of Bangchak Corporation Plc, has invested in Vancouver-based VRB Energy by purchasing its convertible bonds worth US$24 million in a move to fuel development of utility-scale energy storage business.

Forming strategic partnership through the investment will pave a strong pathway for BCPG to fulfill its ambition to be at the forefront of renewable energy and energy storage business, said Bundit Sapianchai, president of BCPG.

VRB Energy is a global leader in vanadium flow battery technology.

Vanadium is a chemical element used in the process of making a flow battery, a type of rechargeable battery.

The investment is expected to fuel the expansion of VRB Energy’s production facilities to serve the rapidly growing demand for its energy storage system (ESS), named “VRB-ESS” in China and meet the rapidly developing energy storage market in Thailand and across the Asia-Pacific region.

BCPG has renewable energy projects across Asia, including solar and wind farms as well as hydroelectric power and geothermal plants in operation at 474 megawatts and under construction at 385MW in Thailand, Japan, Laos, the Philippines and Indonesia.

“The vanadium flow battery technology can also enhance performance of our existing renewable power plants and be applied to new green projects in the future”, said Mr Bundit.

Renewable energy has been growing at a fast pace due to governments’ policies on carbon emission reductions and the declining cost of renewable energy technology.

However, the intermittency of renewable sources such as solar and wind requires energy storage system to ensure reliable electricity supply.

According to Bloomberg NEF and Wood Mackenzie, global energy storage will increase 122 times between 2018 and 2040, and global energy storage capacity is expected to grow at 31% each year through 2030.

Before the investment, BCPG employed ESS as a solution to the intermittency of wind power at its Lom Ligor wind farm in Nakhon Si Thammarat.

A 1.88-megawatt hour (MWh) system captures excess energy production and optimizes discharge to the grid to stabilize power supply.