Gulf seeking power plant in US

Part of expanding overseas assets

SET-listed Gulf Energy Development, Thailand’s largest power company by market value, is planning to acquire a new gas-fired power plant in the US, with electricity generation capacity of 1,000 megawatts, to expand its business overseas.

The plan was unveiled on Monday by chief executive Sarath Ratanavadi during the “Chula Thailand Presidents Summit 2025”, organised by Chulalongkorn University to present views on the Thai and global economies from business leaders across industries.

The new asset acquisition plan is not included in the company’s capital spending for 2025, valued at almost 30 billion baht, he told members of the media after his talk in a session at the summit entitled “Energising Society”.

Gulf earlier acquired a 49% share in Jackson Generation, a gas-fired power plant in the US state of Illinois with a capacity of 1,200MW. The transaction, worth US$400 million, was completed in 2023.

Jackson Generation, which is located in Will County, commenced commercial operations in May 2022.

The facility supplies electricity to the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection merchant market, also known as PJM.

PJM is the wholesale electricity market for 13 US states — Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia — and the District of Columbia.

While sharing his views on energy and economic issues with participants at the summit on Monday, Mr Sarath said Gulf had also invested in renewable energy, especially wind energy in Germany and the UK’s southern North Sea.

“One reason we have invested abroad is to keep updated on technological development in the energy sector,” he said.

Gulf expects its revenue to grow by 10-15% this year, driven by the operation of new power generation facilities, according to Yupapin Wangviwat, Gulf’s deputy chief executive and chief financial officer.

Part of the earnings will come from the second unit of the Hin Kong gas-fired power plant in Ratchaburi.

The power plant, which plays a key role in supplying electricity to the western region, is operated by Hin Kong Power Holding Co, a joint venture between Gulf, with a 49% share, and Ratchaburi Power Generating Plc, with a 51% share.

The 2025 revenue will also come from the commercial operations of Gulf’s five solar farms.

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