SSP aims to double output from renewable fuels

Sermsang Power Corporation Plc (SSP) plans to double its power generation capacity from renewable fuels to 500 megawatts by 2025, aiming to latch on to the trend of clean energy development across Asia-Pacific.

The firm’s current capacity is 232MW. The company operates 10 solar, wind and biomass power projects in several countries, including Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia and Japan, as well as 60 rooftop solar panel projects in Indonesia.

SSP sees business opportunities in clean energy development as many countries welcome foreign investment in this sector. Renewable energy will play a key role in international trade as developed economies led by the EU announced they will support exporters using clean energy in their manufacturing.

The firm’s new renewable energy development projects are making good progress, helping the company towards its 2025 goal, said Varut Tummavaranukub, chief executive of SSP.

One project is the second-phase development of a 17MW Leo solar farm in Japan’s Shizuoka prefecture. The company recently completed financing for the project, which will sell electricity to Tokyo Electric under a 17-year power purchase agreement.

SSP is also developing an offshore wind farm project, with power generation capacity of 48MW, in Vietnam’s southern province of Tra Vinh. The facility is scheduled to start commercial operation in 2024.

SSP invested a 60% stake in a 110MW near-shore and offshore wind farm also located in southern Vietnam. It is expected to begin operation in 2024 or 2025, selling power to Vietnam Electricity.

For the Indonesian rooftop solar panel business, SSP won a contract to generate 19.8MW of electricity. The company is also developing new rooftop solar panel projects with a combined capacity of 8.7MW.

In Thailand, SSP aims to win licences to develop power plants under the government’s 5.2-gigawatt renewable scheme, in which participating companies will sell electricity to the state grid.

The Energy Regulatory Commission was scheduled to organise an auction for renewable energy projects on Nov 22.

According to SSP, its revenue rose by 45% in the first nine months of 2022 year-on-year to 2.8 billion baht, while its net profit soared by 65% to 1.1 billion. The company partly attributed the increase to the acquisition of a 9.9MW biomass-fired power plant worth 500 million baht in Nakhon Ratchasima.