BCPG Plc, a renewable power business arm of state majority-owned energy firm Bangchak Corporation Plc, is continuing its process to acquire a 33.3% stake in three geothermal power plants in Indonesia.
The move is expected to help double BCPG's power-generating capacity to be 600 megawatts.
President and chief executive Bundit Sapianchai said shareholders approved on June 13 for the company to buy 33.3% of shares in Star Energy Group Holdings Ltd, which operates three geothermal power plants in Indonesia.
"The acquisition is worth a total of US$357.5 million, or around 12.3 billion baht, and BCPG is due to book additional revenue from the power plants immediately after the acquisition is completed," said Mr Bundit.
He said the Star Energy purchase will give BCPG a 20% stake in Wayang Windu plant, a 17.3% stake in Salak plant and a 17.3% in Darajat plant.
The three power plants have started commercial operations with Wayang Windu having total power-generating capacity of 347MW, Salak 377MW and Darajat 271MW, said Mr Bandit.
He said Indonesia has strong potential in producing electricity from geothermal power. The country has just been granted a "BBB+" credit rating by Standard and Poor's (S&P), citing it as the world's number two geothermal power producing country.
With the Indonesian investment, BCPG's total power-generating capacity would surpass 600MW, he said, spanning solar and wind power businesses in Thailand, Japan and the Philippines.
BCPG recently announced plans to be a private microgrid provider in Thailand in its new business development chapter over the next decade by supporting any pilot project to generate power in the community, similar to New York's Brooklyn Microgrid. BMG is a peer-to-peer energy market for locally-generated renewable energy that is driven by the community it serves.
BCPG posted smaller year-on-year net profit growth in the first quarter of 2017 after a restatement of financial results for the previous-year quarter saw additional profit tacked on from the acquisition of assets.
The company had total revenue of 798 million baht in the first quarter of 2017, driven by rising revenue from solar farms in Japan and those under cooperative licences at home. Net profit totalled 454 million baht, down 25.8% from 612 million in the same period of last year.
BCPG shares closed yesterday on the SET at 14.90 baht, down 20 satang, in trade worth 94.1 million baht.