Renewable energy producers The Blue Circle and EREN Renewable Energy (EREN RE) have agreed to jointly develop a portfolio of wind power projects in Thailand.
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Singapore-based renewable energy developer The Blue Circle said the new partnership will help it complete more than 300 megawatts of wind projects which are at various stages of development. The Blue Circle has been operating in the Mekong region since 2013, and has offices in Thailand and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, EREN RE, a subsidiary of French power producer EREN Groupe, opened its Asian headquarters in Singapore this year to spearhead its expansion across the region.
“Thailand is one of the most advanced countries in Southeast Asia in terms of wind installed capacity and together with EREN RE, we want to invest and participate in its future growth,” Olivier Duguet, chairman and chief executive of The Blue Circle, noted in a statement last month.
Thailand aims to build its wind power capacity up to 1,800 MW by 2021, the Asian Development Bank said in a statement in January this year.
The development bank, which has helped fund Thailand’s wind energy development through its clean technology loan programmes, said the country would require significant investment from the private sector to achieve its goal, with only 223MW of wind power capacity installed currently.
Fabienne Demol, head of business development of EREN RE, said the French firm plans to build a portfolio of renewable energy power plants across the world, and added that Southeast Asia is one of the most promising regions for wind and solar energy expansion.
EREN RE will be a financing partner - not a shareholder - for The Blue Circle’s wind energy projects in Thailand, the Singapore-based developer told Eco-Business.
“EREN RE will share, along with The Blue Circle, the project development costs and is positioned to invest up to US$60 million into wind projects themselves,” it added.
It will have an option to invest in the Thai projects The Blue Circle will be looking to sell, the firm explained.
In May last year, The Blue Circle secured US$40 million from Singapore-based Armstrong Asset Management, the region’s largest renewable private equity investor, to invest in solar and wind energy projects in the region.
The Blue Circle has installed three metrological masts in Vietnam to measure wind energy potential and has approval for wind energy projects there.
This story has been edited to reflect corrections on The Blue Circle’s current activities in Vietnam, which earlier noted wind projects are already under construction.
