Eastern Energy Plus Co (EEP), a local operator of waste-to-energy power plants in Samut Prakan, plans to list on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) next year to raise funds for upgrading units in the province.
The upgrade of its operation to a full stream waste-to-energy complex requires investment of 20 billion baht and will take around four years.
EEP operates the first phase of a waste-fired or refuse-derived fuels (RDF) power plant, which started commercial operation on June 30 with a total capacity of 9.9 megawatts.
The rising amount of community waste in Samut Prakan province -- up to 4,000 tonnes a day in an ageing landfill -- encouraged the company to think about developing a waste-to-power complex.
Chief executive Kanapod Nitsiriphat told the Bangkok Post that the company expects community waste to rise to as much as 10 million tonnes a day, increasing the potential capacity of an RDF power plant to more than 100MW over the next four years.
EEP hired Asia Plus Securities as its financial adviser, including filing of all listing documents with the SET and beginning the IPO process.
The company expects to list next year. The anticipated amount of funds raised from the IPO has not been decided.
EEP is asking the country's policymakers for support because it is planning another two RDF power generators for its second phase of development, costing roughly 600 million baht per unit.
The company's long-term target is to be one of Thailand's leading RDF-fired power plant operators, aiming to develop new plants in all metropolitan areas nationwide.
By the end of its fiscal year in June next year, when the RDF complex is due to start operation, EEP expects total revenue of 400 million baht.
Major tourist destinations with dense populations such as Koh Samui, Buri Ram and Samut Sakhon have approached EEP to develop RDF-fired power plants near them.
The company was granted a licence to operate RDF plants in 2014, but it faced several obstacles before starting operation of its first RDF unit this year, which was strongly opposed by local villagers.
To ease villagers' concerns, EEP tried to educate them about its state-of-the-art waste management technology and how it will produce power for them.
"We invited everybody in the community to see what we are doing, destroying stinky garbage, dust and wastewater that have been dumped and drained out from each village," Mr Kanapod said.
After several discussions with the communities, the company spent a long time conducting environmental impact assessments, obtaining factory development and operation permits, working on waste transport, meeting City Planning Act regulations, and wrangling investment privileges such as a feed-in tariff and a tax holiday.
The military government revised several laws in 2015-16, shortening several registration processes and facilitating the project becoming operational, he said.
"RDF-fired power plants are very new in Thailand, which made local banks quite reluctant to lend to us," Mr Kanapod said.
But some famous co-investors joined the project, such as MR Chatumongol Sonakul, a former permanent finance secretary and Bank of Thailand governor, giving the project more credibility.
EEP eventually raised 4 billion baht in registered capital to start the project.
In December 2014, EEP signed a power purchase agreement with the Metropolitan Electricity Authority to sell 9.9MW with a feed-in tariff rate of 5.08 baht per kilowatt-hour.
The RDF complex spans 320 rai that can accommodate around 4,000 tonnes of waste per day from 48 tambon administrative offices in Samut Prakan.
Each day, 4,000 tonnes of fresh waste can be separated for RDF of 1,800 tonnes, while another 1,400 tonnes are organic substances that can be used to produce fertiliser. Some 600 tonnes are plastic.
Mr Kanapod said the first unit of the RDF power plant requires only 500 tonnes of waste a day, so plenty remains for its waste-to-power complex.