CIMB Thai Bank is facilitating lending to Thai companies in renewable energy as it believes the prospects for the sector are bright in line with growing demand for electricity generation when the Asean Economic Community (AEC) is fully realised next year.
The bank has been giving great importance to renewable energy and Thailand has potential producers in the sector, president and chief executive officer Subhak Siwaraksa said yesterday.
The demand for electricity in the Kingdom and nearby countries is expected to rise when the AEC is fully implemented, which will bring more trade and investment to the region, he said, adding that renewable energy will play an increasing role in supporting that demand.
Moreover, biomass energy has distinctly lower environmental impacts than other energy sources.
The bank so far has supported very small power producers (VSPPs) using renewable sources, with combined lending of more than Bt6 billion provided by its commercial-banking group.
Subhak said CIMB Thai had recently provided a credit line of more than Bt450 million to Surin Bio Power, a VSPP in Surin province, to construct a biomass power plant to supply electricity to the Provincial Electricity Authority.
The bank is in the process of providing more support loans to VSPPs in renewable energy, representing an investment value of more than Bt2 billion, he said.
The biomass power plant in Surin will have a production capacity of 9.5 megawatts, said Tiew Rungvijitkul, managing director of Surin Bio Power.
It will be the 11th electricity-generating plant in the province, and the second biomass power plant.
