Wandee Khunchornyakong was living a relaxing life and doing little other than travelling after she decided to step down in 2007 as chief executive and executive chairwoman of the solar energy company Solartron Plc.
In the first two years after she quit the business, Ms Wandee had fun operating spas, dabbling in real estate and seeing the world, until she attended an environmental exhibition in Scotland in 2008. That year, oil prices were soaring, with a global economic downturn to follow.
The oil scare prompted the Thai government to invite investors from all over the globe to produce alternative energy, encompassing solar, wind, biogas and biomass.
During the period, the government also introduced a policy to produce as much as 4,600 megawatts of electricity from alternative sources in 2022, with 500 megawatts to come from solar cells.
The scheme took the form of subsidies to make alternative energy competitive with fossil fuels.
“Over 20 years of experience working in the solar energy sector makes me see the potential of the intensity of sunlight, which Thailand possesses more than many other countries,” said Ms Wandee.
In 2009 she founded Solar Power Co, which has received 34 licences under the government’s small power producer programme to develop solar farms in the provinces with a combined capacity of more than 200 megawatts by 2013.
The process, from the first step of requesting the licences to the signing of the energy purchase agreements with the Provincial Electricity Authority and the loan agreement, seemed to be progressing well.
But the reality was that Ms Wandee was anxious and agitated, so much so that she could not sleep many nights for as long as two years, starting from the day she requested the licences from the Energy Ministry to the last few weeks when she signed agreements with the Clean Technology Fund of the World Bank and several commercial banks in Thailand.
“At that time, we had to find joint investors that had potential, financial sources and suppliers for the panels and batteries,” she recalled. “Each deal was hard to find, and I almost gave up altogether.”
Every Thai energy company she asked was dismissive of the joint-venture proposal. “I then travelled to China and India to look at their solar panel manufacturing plants and to compare and find the best supplier. Still I got rejected.”
Even commercial banks turned her down. The plan seemed to lack even the slightest glimmer of hope, and negotiation efforts took many weeks.
Time flew by quickly. With mounting pressure from conditions and a deadline stipulated by the Energy Ministry, Ms Wandee had to sell the house and land where she had planned to settle down with her family, and still she failed to raise enough for the company’s equity.
In the end, she had to rely on her rich past experience in the field and her own perseverance. She travelled to the Philippines and Hong Kong almost 10 times to get the World Bank to jointly invest, and to affirm that the project was not a lofty dream or a blank piece of paper, but real. The World Bank decided to have its International Finance Corporation join in the investment.
Nonetheless, Ms Wandee did not give up on Thai investors. She at last persuaded the Energy for Environment Foundation and Thai Fa Power Co to form a strategic partnership with the first three plants.
While waiting to sign the joint-venture and loan deals, Ms Wandee decided to raise funds through one more channel: the stock market. As the project was conditional on its completion by 2013, she made a bold and abrupt move to raise funds through backdoor listing by acquiring Steel Intertech, a company listed on the Market for Alternative Investment.
The new entity has since been renamed Solar Power Group (SPCG) and listed on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.To comply with the main board’s requirement, SPCG had to raise its registered capital to 840 million baht from 500 million baht, forcing Ms Wandee to sell her land plot on Soi Thong Lor.
Even with fund-raising not fully complete, Ms Wandee and her subordinates had to travel across Asia to find appropriate sources for solar cell production. More than 60% of the company’s investment would go to buying solar cells.
“Suppliers in both China and India did not allow us to look at their production line,” she said. “This was disheartening because there was a lot of pressure and we were all very stressed.
“It was still fortunate that in the end Kyocera of Japan allowed us to visit its research and development centre. Kyocera gave us moral support and told us it wanted to support the first solar farm in this region and wanted to see it succeed. The dispiriting feelings that I had after encountering previous obstacles evaporated and optimism blossomed. Now we are ready to continue fighting.”
Kyocera is the sole supplier for every solar power project SPCG undertakes.
Obstacles remained, however: The lender, Kasikornbank, asked the company to show evidence of good operating results from the first project, which began power production in April 2010.
The bank’s confidence was secured once it saw that the company’s first power facility was generating 100 million baht in revenue. Successive developments continued, with SPCG signing loans worth 21 billion baht for the 34 licensed projects in May this year, with KBank as the lead arranger.
“After the loan signing ceremony, we immediately became like Princess Charming,” Ms Wandee said. “Those who used to close their doors on us were now approaching us for joint investment talks.”
SPCG has metamorphosed from an ailing patient to a strong athlete. At present, solar power plants and solar farms have received five energy production licences. By the end of the year, two more will be built for a total of seven licences. The company predicts that by the first quarter of next year, nine more licences will be in hand. All 34 will be completed by 2013.
“The goal of this investment is not just revenues from selling electricity,” said Ms Wandee. “We also strive to be a provider of engineering procurement and construction, maintenance and operation as well as a producer of steel frames for solar panels, making the investment fully integrated and holistic.
“Next year, SPCG is poised to locate markets for investment in solar farms in India, Malaysia and Indonesia.”
The general public benefits as well. The first solar farm in Nakhon Ratchasima was built as an exhibition building and education centre for the general public to see the potential of generating electricity from nature.
Ms Wandee recently established the Solar Power Foundation to fund solar energy education for the general public.
“It is passion that has made these development projects materialise,” she said. “Doing what you love brings about miracles, innovation and creativity.”
