Gulf Development Plc, a new firm established by the merger of Gulf Energy Development Plc and Intouch Holdings Plc, is planning to spend 100 billion baht over the next five years synergising energy and telecom businesses, as well as developing a data centre facility.
The amalgamation between Intouch, the parent of major telecom operator Advanced Info Service (AIS), and Gulf, Thailand's largest power company by market value, is scheduled to be completed on March 31, ready for stock trading from April 2.
The budget is to be allocated from 2025 to 2029 to restructure energy and telecom businesses, as well as support a plan to ride the trend of data centre and cloud service development, said Sarath Ratanavadi, chief executive of Gulf and Thailand's second richest businessman with assets worth US$9.8 billion.
Up to 60-70% of the budget is for power development, with a focus on clean energy, while the remaining 30-40% will fuel the growth of telecom and digital technology businesses, he said.
Gulf is preparing to open its first data centre with an IT load of 24 megawatts by the middle of this year, said Mr Sarath.
The company plans continued expansion of this business, with a goal to increase power demand to 200MW within 2-3 years, he said.
Data centre operators usually require a stable supply of clean energy to run their facilities, in line with global campaigns to reduce their carbon footprint.
Under the business restructuring plan, Gulf will also simplify shareholding structure and cultivate new growth opportunities in the energy, infrastructure and digital landscape, said Mr Sarath.
"The combined expertise will benefit both companies and all stakeholders, increasing the potential of the new company to be a leader in energy and telecommunications," he said.
In 2025, Gulf plans to spend 20 billion baht to support ongoing development projects, including rooftop solar panel installation, solar farms and gas-fired power plants.
The company aims to increase total electricity generation capacity to 12,750MW by 2033, up from 8,593MW last year, based on its shareholding in power plants in Thailand and overseas.
In the gas business, Gulf wants to import 4-5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas this year to fuel the company's power generation assets and serve industrial customers.
The investment of 100 billion baht projects the energy business to comprise 60% of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation, with the remainder coming mainly from the digital technology business by 2033.
