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Published on October 16, 2007

Chanin said the company was also adjusting its vision to turn Banpu into a leading energy company in Asia. The new vision and mission of the company follows the old one, which concentrated on coal mines and coal-fired power plants.

The new vision will venture into green-energy projects like renewable solar and wind power, which will account for 2 per cent of total assets. The new energy projects will be concentrated in Thailand.

Banpu will also expand investments into more countries after having successfully invested in Indonesia and China.

The company is looking at opportunities in India because the country has a high potential for coal mining.

As well, India is a big market and has enjoyed steady growth.

Banpu is looking for a new partner in India. It registered a new company called Banpu India, whose business direction should be clearer next year.

Chanin believes the shift towards green energy is a trend that all energy companies should turn towards. Even though it will not produce a handsome margin, it will benefit society. The company is also studying new technology to make coal mining more environmentally friendly, such as transforming coal into natural gas.

"The company believes coal will continue to be an important energy source for the next 20 years," Chanin said. "In the future, new techniques and formats will be introduced to make coal-fired power more effective and environmentally friendly."

This objective is in line with Banpu's new mission, the details of which are still being worked out.

Banpu yesterday closed at Bt398, up Bt2 from the last Friday. Morgan Stanley said in its research that the company's performance showed good prospects, because world coal prices were likely to rise in the next three or four years.

Banpu's future projects include the Hongsa Lignite project in Laos. The company plans to turn this project into a coal-fired power plant with an 1,800-megawatt capacity and an investment of US$2 billion (Bt68.35 billion). Banpu will hold about a 30-per-cent stake, and the project should generate power to Thailand by 2013. The company's investment will focus on risk management, and the project should return the investment in seven years.

In the long term, the company plans to enjoy moderate growth, with income growing more than 15 per cent a year. Company revenue should increase 20 per cent this year.

At present, Banpu operates lignite coal mines in Lampang and Phayao provinces. The company also owns half of BLCP Power in the Map Ta Phut Industrial Estate, which has a capacity of 1,434MW. Banpu also holds a 15-per-cent share in a Ratchaburi power plant.

The company has operated in Indonesia for more than 10 years. It is now ranked the fourth-largest coal-mine operator there, with a capacity of 19 million tonnes annually from five mining sites.

The company entered China in 2003 to invest in coal-fired power plants with

a combined capacity of 248MW.

Watcharapong Thongrung

 The Nation