RATCH Group to Invest $460 Million in Power Sector

RATCH Group Public Company Limited, a listed firm on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET), on Friday said that it has allocated a $450 million budget to subsidise new investments and ongoing projects.

Unveiling its refined strategic plan and business direction for 2025, the company said that it was focusing on two key approaches: optimising efficiency of existing assets to maximize returns and investing in power and energy businesses to drive sustainable growth.

RATCH Group CEO Nitus Voraphonpiput revealed said that the company has reviewed its 2025 business strategies to realign operations to cope with future challenges and emerging business opportunities. The company aims to optimise its asset portfolio by categorising assets and formulating management strategies for each group to enhance utmost effectiveness.

This includes leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) for predictive maintenance to boost power plant efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, as well as transforming existing power plants to create added value; e.g., the Synchronous Condenser project at the Townsville Power Station in Australia which utilises the power plant’s infrastructure to support grid stability in Queensland; developing on decommissioned power plants and land property into new businesses or new projects; acquiring additional shares from existing partners in economically viable projects, and enhancing efficiency and quality of assets to align with its business objectives, while investing in the new energy businesses.

Portfolio Diversification

Under its redefined investment strategy, RATCH aims to diversify its portfolio across fossil fuel power projects, renewable energy, new platform for energy technologies, and energy infrastructure. The investment focuses on renewable energy projects which the company currently has 12 projects on hands with approximately 1.7 GW capacity including; the 100 MW Beryl energy storage system, the 152 MW Marulan solar farm, and the 800 MW Springland wind farm; the 245 MW equity capacity San Miguel offshore wind power project and the Lucena offshore wind power with 232.75 MW equity capacity in the Philippines; and the Ben Tre wind farm with 39.20 MW equity capacity as well as two onshore wind power projects totalling approximately 140.45 MW equity capacity in Vietnam.

“In addition to realigning its asset portfolio, RATCH Group is striving for investment expansion by exploring renewable energy projects and operating conventional power plants with power purchase contracts expiring no later than 2050 in Thailand and overseas, to secure steady revenue and ensure returns for shareholders consistently,” he said.

Meanwhile, three projects are scheduled to commence commercial operations; the Nava Nakorn expansion project, the Song Giang 1 hydropower project in Vietnam, and the NPSI solar power plant in the Philippines.

Additionally, the company is driving progress in new energy study especially on green hydrogen, small modular reactor (SMR), and energy storage systems. Currently, the Australia-based subsidiary of the company is progressively developing a battery energy storage system by utilising existing facilities and infrastructure of the Kemerton gas-fired power plant and several projects is underway of development, that enabling added value to the company’s existing assets while integrating us into the energy transition ecosystem,” Nitus said.

At present, the company has a 10,815 MW equity capacity in total, including 7,843 MW (72.5%) from fossil fuels and 2,972 MW (27.5%) from renewable energy. It aims to increase renewable energy capacity to 30% of total capacity and 40% in 2030 and 2035 respectively.